Uber Has Launched Services To Help In COVID-19 Contact Tracing

Recently, Uber Technologies Inc has launched a new service for public health officials. It provides them with quick access to data on riders and drivers which might have come in contact with a COVID-19 infected person.

The service offered by the company is free of charge and can help burnish the image of the ride-hailing giant. This is news comes in the wake of the company’s new ad campaign which endorsed the “No Mask, No Ride” policy in the U.S.A.

The company officials have said that now it’s being promoted to government health officials in all the countries. The service provides health departments with data about who used Uber’s services and when and allows health agencies to urge affected users into quarantine.

In a few hours, the officials said that the information on any individual can be accessed. The company is also considering a COVID-19 emergency that involves the danger of death or serious physical injury. For months now, Uber has provided crucial data that has not been used in many U.S. virus hotspots.

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In recent weeks, many U.S. states have begun hiring workers to interview and identify infected patients or people that have come in contact with them. It is expected that the data from ride-hailing data can play an important role as it identifies people outside of the direct social circle of an infected person.

Sullivan, a veteran U.S. prosecutor who now leads a team of 100 Uber employees, said “Our timing ended up being beneficial in that it allowed us to get ahead before COVID started ramping up globally.”

Previously, Uber has received requests related to coronavirus of a total of 560 people from public health departments in 29 countries. Out of these 560 requests, 158 were filed by health authorities around the U.S. in nearly 40 locations.