Amazon and Uber Suggest Delivering Coronavirus Testing Kits. Gig Workers Are Worried.
The suggestion comes as delivery and ride-share drivers are demanding better safety measures and labor protections
Technology titans Amazon and Uber this week hinted at separate future plans to deliver coronavirus testing kits in the midst of a national shortage of tests at hospitals and clinics.
On Wednesday, CNBC reported that Amazon Care, the company’s “virtual medical clinic” for Amazon employees, is in talks with Seattle officials to deliver at-home coronavirus testing kits to local residences in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Meanwhile, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi declared on a Thursday call with analysts that his company is “looking to deliver” tests, but shared no further details.
Neither company has disclosed its plans, nor which agencies they would partner with. An Uber spokesperson told OneZero that specifics about what a testing kit delivery service would look like are not available at this time. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But gig workers, who make up a large percentage of the workforces of both companies — and who as independent contractors are…
