Coronavirus: Uber driver worried about Covid-19 exposure after picking up sick passenger at Auckland Airport

Uber driver Daljeet Singh, who picked up a sick passenger from Auckland Airport, feels his life is being put at risk by the lack of health checks of arriving travellers.

Rules have been tightened requiring anyone coming to NZ, except those from the Pacific Islands, to self-isolate for 14 days to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

Although the Prime Minister says international travellers should get a private ride home, many are still relying on Uber, taxis and other forms of public transport - potentially exposing drivers to the virus.

Singh picked up a passenger from Manila last Friday who told him she had the flu and was sniffling the entire journey.

"Anyone can see she's sick, but when I asked her if anyone checked her when she arrived at the airport, she said no," Singh said.

"I was so shocked because she came from a place where there is coronavirus, she says it's just normal flu, but I was really worried still that I may be exposed to the virus."

There were over 100 confirmed Covid-19 cases with many more suspected in Manila, and two days after the woman arrived, the city went into lockdown.

There have been nearly 168,000 cases of Covid-19 in more than 100 countries worldwide. Of those, 6440 have died and 76,000 recovered.

Singh, who continued to pick passengers up at the airport over the weekend, said he had been repeatedly told the same thing - that they did not have any health checks or screening.

"The self-isolation rule is useless if no one is checking passengers when they arrive," he said.

"Usually, as an Uber driver, I am one of the first people who will come in contact for an extended period in a confined area, so this is really putting my life at risk."

Singh said he wears a mask and has a bottle of hand sanitiser in the car, but can only do so much to protect himself and his passengers from the virus.

He said the sick passenger was in his car for more than half-an-hour from the airport to Mt Wellington.

Singh said he's been badly hit in the pocket since the outbreak too, making just $1200 a week when he used to make upwards of $2000 before the outbreak.

Taxi companies said they were in the dark about whether to pick up passengers from the airport.

NZ Taxi Federation executive director John Hart said the group had been asking the Ministry of Health for advice for its drivers but so far received nothing.

Hart said the federation was in favour of "any measures which help contain the virus and prevent it spreading" when asked if it supported the new restrictions.

He was not aware of any taxi companies that had told their drivers to stay away from airports.

"We would like specific advice from the Ministry of Health about measures we could and should take to protect drivers and members of the public."

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According to the Ministry of Health's self-isolation advice on its website, international travellers don't need to self-isolate the moment they arrive and can use public transport to get home.

Service providers are advised most people coming back from overseas and self-isolating will be healthy.

The ministry advises people to use hand sanitisers frequently and cover their mouth when coughing or sneezing.

New Zealand has eight confirmed cases of the virus but has yet to have any community transmission.