300K Masks Will Be Given to PHV & Taxi Drivers Who Are Supposed to Give Them to Sick Passengers

Lest you didn’t know, there are currently three nCoV patients who drive for a living.

Two are private-hire drivers and one is a taxi driver.

One of the private-hire drivers is a close contact with an infected patient (his wife who works in Yong Thai Hang). As for the other two drivers, their source of infection is still unknown.

So, 300K masks are given to PHV and taxi drivers…

Reader Bao: Oei, I thought experts said masks cannot protect from nCoV one?

…so that they can give it to their passengers who are sick.

Mr Bao, read everything carefully, please.

300K Masks Will Be Given to PHV & Taxi Drivers Who Are Supposed to Give Them to Sick Passengers

By now, if you still didn’t know, then you need to wake up your idea and watch the news more often: you shouldn’t use a surgical mask if you’re well.

The masks should only be used by people who’re sick.

And that is the reason why the gahmen gives only four masks to each household: it’s not for daily use.

In order to protect drivers, the authorities are giving 300,000 masks to PHV and taxi drivers, so that if they spot any passengers who’re sick without a mask, they can give one to them.

LTA said, “These masks are intended for drivers to offer to passengers who are unwell but do not have a mask and need a ride to seek medical attention.”

And because I know we’ve many Reader Baos, here’s LTA’s statement again, with me bolding what’s important: “These masks are intended for drivers to offer to passengers who are unwell but do not have a mask and need a ride to seek medical attention.”

So, get it?

It’s not for the drivers.

The masks, packed in four as well, are from the Government’s stockpile and will be given out to drivers from tomorrow(11 February 2020) onwards through their companies and operators.

Not sure how many masks a person who drive for a few ride-hailing firms would get, but anyways.

Temperature-Taking Stations for Drivers

Today, we who are advised to avoid the crowd became the crowd as temperature-taking measures were implemented in many premises.

It leads to long queues but no one’s complaining; in fact, it reminds me once again that we’ve beaten SARS before, so this is nothing.

For taxi drivers, temperature-measuring stations would also be set up, whereby drivers can have their temperature taken and receive a sticker to indicate that they’re okay.

You know, kind of like what SIM is doing.

And because it’s 2020, companies like Grab and Go-Jek now get their drivers to take their temperature and submit the results via the app instead.

Anyone remember writing down temperature in a sheet of paper?

Earnings for Drivers Dropped in the Last Two Weeks

With the nCoV outbreak, the earnings of taxi and PHV drivers have been hit severely.

According to Mr Ang Hin Kee, adviser to both the National Taxi Association and National Private Hire Vehicles Association, taxi drivers’ earnings have decreased by 25% while private hire drivers’ earnings have dropped by over 30%.

Imagine you’ve done nothing wrong and all of a sudden, your income dropped by almost one-third.

Let’s hope the battle against nCoV will be over soon, so we can finally see smiles in our taxi and PHV drivers.