Covid 19 coronavirus: Taxi drivers feel 'at risk', plea to passengers not wearing masks

By RNZ

Auckland taxi drivers are unhappy and a bit confused why their form of public transport is not deemed one in which passengers have to wear masks.

Thursday's incoming mask mandate applies to everyone on domestic flights around New Zealand as well as those travelling on buses and trains in Auckland.

It also applies to taxi drivers - but not taxi passengers, after the government specifically exempted passengers in its announcement.

The Government's mask mandate applies to taxi drivers - but not passengers, after they were specifically exempted. Photo / 123rf

"From 11.59pm on Wednesday 18 November, the use of face coverings will be mandatory for... the drivers of small passenger service vehicles in Auckland, such as taxis and app-based ride services, but not their passengers."

Auckland taxi driver Gurpreet Singh comes into close contact with passengers - within a metre for varying lengths of time - multiple times a day. He wears a mask, but worries about taking Covid-19 home to his young daughter and mother-in-law.

He said gently encouraging some people to wear a mask did not always work.

"Some people, when we ask 'can you please wear a mask?' they say 'we don't have a mask, and we don't care about corona'. After that, we can't do anything," Singh said.

An Uber driver, who didn't want to give his name, said very few of his passengers wore a mask in his car. If he declined to take them, then he was out of a job.

"I think I got only one customer [all day wearing a mask]. Even if they're coming from a plane or anywhere.

"But at the end of the day, you have to work. You have to be on the road if you want money."

Another driver, Malik, said they felt constantly at risk and the new mask rules didn't help.

"It doesn't make sense. I think they should have everybody wearing a mask in a taxi or an Uber. We do feel [safer] if someone's wearing a mask."

He said it was not a big request to have people wear a mask for a couple of minutes, and wished the Government did not draw such a fine line for the incoming regulation.

Another driver said even though it would not be mandatory, he was gently asking passengers to wear a mask.

"Everybody. If we want it for safety for the community it's supposed to be everywhere. It's not a big ask."

John Hart, executive director of the Taxi Federation, said if there was a risk of Covid-19 being transmitted in a taxi, that existed on everyone, not only the driver.

"The taxi companies are doing their best to keep the vehicles clean, and in most cases they're introducing fairly rigid cleaning regimes, but it just seems it would be an awful lot more logical if the passengers were required to wear masks as well."

Regardless of the Government's decision, Hart said he had a message for passengers.

"Please wear a mask. We're all in this together, we all need to keep safe, so please, please, when you get into a taxi, please wear a mask."

-RNZ