News of an imminent national coronavirus curfew has led many to look for ways they can get around the new rules. Anyone outside of their homes between 8.30pm and 4.30am is expected to have a valid reason - which could be anything from walking the dog to a medical emergency.
The news has many people looking for pets that they can borrow in order to have their own valid excuse, or looking for work uniforms to use as a disguise. Several adverts for Thuisbezorgd uniforms have been popping up online, and now Markplaats - the Dutch equivalent of eBay - has banned all adverts for delivery uniforms.
The online sales platform has refused to share any adverts selling second-hand coats or other accessories from (meal) delivery companies. A number of people across the Netherlands had started to offer their own uniforms as an option for anyone looking to be able to break the coronavirus curfew rules.
The asking prices for a complete set - a jacket as well as the branded delivery backpack - could run anywhere from 45 to 200 euros. The first adverts went up on Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday afternoon in the run-up to the government press conference, there were still a couple on offer.
Marktplaats has said they are working to remove all of these ads as soon as possible: “In the context of combating the coronavirus pandemic, we do not allow any products that could circumvent measures,” a spokesperson for the site told the AD.
Just Eat Takeaway, the company that owns Thuisbezorgd, has spoken out against the attempt to bypass curfew. PostNL has also spoken out against the sale of their uniforms: "If you are not a PostNL employee, you should not abuse that jacket. We do not want our resources to be misused." Marktplaats says dozens of adverts placed, and they hope the companies whose uniforms are being sold will also take responsibility for their (former) employees' actions.