Uber wasted no time updating its COVID-19 mask policy after a federal judge in Florida lifted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mask mandate for travelers.
Riders and drivers are no longer required to wear masks when using Uber, the ride-sharing service announced Tuesday.
“As of April 19, 2022, riders and drivers are not required to wear masks when using Uber,” the company wrote on its website, a day after the judge’s ruling. “However, the CDC still recommends wearing a mask if you have certain personal risk factors and/or high transmission levels in your area.”
Riders are no longer required to sit in the back seat during rides, but the company advises that people only use the front seat when necessary due to the size of the group.
The change ends an ongoing issue of drivers having difficulty enforcing the mask mandate for their passengers.
An Uber driver from Tampa named Dionne Jordan told Spectrum Bay News 9 in a January article on mask fatigue that she’d been called every name in the book, including racial expletives, mainly due to the masking policy.
Ms. Jordan said she would provide her passengers with masks if they didn’t have one, but she still ran into trouble.
“Three to five minutes into the ride, all of a sudden, ’I am not wearing this mask. I am not doing this. I am not doing this s—-,’” she said, Spectrum Bay News 9 reported.
Uber’s sales bounced back in 2021 — revenue grew by 83% and gross bookings increased by 51% over 2020, according to the company’s earnings report.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Peter Santo can be reached at psanto@washingtontimes.com.
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