Uber to Start Shipping Car Disinfectants to Drivers

Texas Town Orders Residents to Wear Masks or Face $1,000 Fine

Authorities in a South Texas border town said that anyone aged 5 and above not wearing a mask in a range of settings like pumping gas or going into a store could be fined up to $1,000. The Laredo City Council said in a press release Wednesday that, starting Thursday, people “entering into or inside of any building open to the public; when using public transportation, taxis, or ride shares; or when pumping gas,” would have to don masks. Authorities said people would be required to wear “some form of covering over their nose and mouth,” with homemade masks, scarfs, bandanas, or handkerchiefs all considered acceptable. Violation of the new rule will be considered a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. The move comes as another 26,000 Americans…

Uber Technologies Inc will begin shipping disinfecting car spray to selected drivers in areas most affected by the (Chinese Communist Party)聽CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, outbreak, an executive said on April 2.

The company had promised to supply drivers with sanitizers in early March. Then it closed all of its local hubs, places where drivers can go to receive in-person help or use the bathroom, leaving drivers in the dark over where to receive supplies.

Uber senior vice president of global rides and platform operations, Andrew Macdonald, said on Twitter that the company had received an initial batch of 30,000 bottles of cleaning spray by Atlanta-based company Zep Inc.

He said select drivers could place an order in the app and receive shipment free of charge.

“As a start, we鈥檙e prioritizing the most active drivers in a few cities, incl. NYC,” Macdonald wrote on Twitter, adding that the company was working on securing more supplies.

Previously, Uber said suppliers had prioritized orders for healthcare, with its own orders being moved down the queue several times.

Lyft Inc last week said it had distributed many supplies to drivers while its hubs were still open and was working a way to distribute them now, but declined to provide additional details.

Lyft did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Ride-hailing demand has grinded to a halt in most U.S. cities, with a majority of Americans now under some form of lockdown.

The epidemic has also exposed drivers and companies to the downside of an ambiguous contractor model, leaving drivers more vulnerable than traditional employees.

Reporting by Tina Bellon in New York

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Feds Distribute Thousands of Masks, Gloves Seized From Hoarders to Healthcare Workers

The Justice Department (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Thursday that more than half a million boxes of medical supplies, including N95 respirator masks, that were seized from a price gouger have been distributed to healthcare workers combating the CCP virus. The supplies were discovered by the FBI during an enforcement operation on March 30, the department said. They include about 192,000 N95 respirator masks, 598,000 medical grade gloves, and 130,000 surgical masks, procedure masks, N100 masks, surgical gowns, disinfectant towels, particulate filters, bottles of hand sanitizer, and bottles of spray disinfectant. HHS used its power under the Defense Production Act to order that the supplies be immediately given to the federal government. The owner of the hoarded supplies will be paid pre-pandemic fair market value for the…