Uber suspends Mexico City users who booked trips with suspected coronavirus carriers

The New Coronavirus, or 2019-nCov if you’re a nerd, is wreaking havoc for companies across the world.

Airlines have suspended flights to and from China while some firms are forbidding their staff from travelling to the country. And now Uber is suspending riders from even booking rides with suspected Coronavirus carriers. And perhaps craziest of all, these accounts aren’t even located in China.

According to a Bloomberg report, Uber has suspended the accounts of 240 users in Mexico who booked trips with two drivers believed to be possible coronavirus carriers.

Riders confirmed the account suspensions on Twitter.

@julioastillero Don Julio pido su apoyo, @Uber_MEX me cancela cuenta, tras un mensaje enviado x ellos, bajo argumento de un "supuesto" contagio de Coronavirus de 1 usuario q utilizo el mismo vehículo.
No responden, no preocupa la cuenta, sino el caos que su aviso puede generar. pic.twitter.com/7vD3CSKbGb

— norma sanchez (@normasanchez7) February 1, 2020

It’s an incredible move considering Mexico has no confirmed cases.

However, Uber did issue a response saying that the Mexico City Ministry of Health notified the company. It then suspended the account as a precaution.

Translation via Google Translate below:

On Friday, January 31, we had news from the Ministry of Health of Mexico City, through a request for information, regarding a user identified by it as a possible carrier of the coronavirus. This request was answered on January 31 with contact information of two driving partners who possibly made trips with the user of the profile located. As of the date of the first trip made by the user, 240 users made trips with the two driver partners already mentioned. Then, in accordance with our protocols and proactively, we have proceeded to send information to these two drivers and 240 users regarding the temporary deactivation of their accounts with the sole purpose of sharing the official preventive information of the Ministry of Health regarding to the possibility of contacting the Epidemiological and Health Intelligence Unit (UIES) in case of requiring more information or presenting symptoms. We call our community to follow the official information. For our part, we will keep users and drivers informed about any update in their accounts.

pic.twitter.com/SQ4b8rRhoH

— Uber Mexico (@Uber_MEX) February 1, 2020

As of 30 January, 7818 cases have been confirmed according to WHO. 7736 of these are in mainland China. A further 82 confirmed cases are confirmed in 18 other countries. Five cases are confirmed in the United States, but none in Mexico.

It’s not clear when Uber will reactivate the 240 users’ accounts, but Coronavirus cases are monitored for 14 days for signs of symptoms.

For more up to date information about the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, reports from the ground, or general information, follow our Coronavirus Twitter list here.

Feature image: Uber