As Covid-19 became more prevalent in and around Atlanta, I became very uneasy with doing Uber. I thought I’d stay home for about two weeks to be on the safe side, and observe the situation. The pandemic only ended up getting worse. The Governor issued the executive order to lockdown the state on March 19th. During this period only essential workers were allowed to work. Luckily for me Uber drivers, were classified as essential workers. One of great things about driving for Uber is having the option to take on passengers or do deliveries with Uber Eats. Besides business being slow due to the pandemic, exposure to the virus was risk. Without hesitation I chose to only do Uber Eats and I must say that business was very good during the lockdown. People were recognizing how important gig workers were as well as those working in the food and service industries. As a result we saw an increase in the tipping from costumers. Most people were tipping 100% or more. Now that the state has reopened our earning have not been as good but they're still decent which I truly appreciate given Covid-19 cases are still on the rise and I do not want to put my family at risk.
On the 29th of June I received a message from the Uber app telling us that " While the world has been standing still, you've continued to make sure meals are delivered to those who need them. With your city moving again, we wanted to let you know that riders are requesting drivers to take UberX trips in Atlanta. You will not get Pool trip requests, as Pool is still off". The message went ahead to even give the average that drivers are currently making. But at the end of the day I have to make the choice to either start picking passages in my vehicle or to be more cautious and continue doing Uber Eats. On the same day Atlanta reported more than 2,200 additional COVID-19 cases Sunday, a new high for daily reported cases, the previous highest daily reported cases was 1,990. On July 10 Georgia had another record breaking day for COVID-19 cases 4,484 bring the states total to 111,211 positive cases (source Georgia DPH website). A vast number of people are asymptotic. There are also a large number of people not practicing the guideline set forth by the CDC regarding protecting oneself during the pandemic.
I have been receiving calls and messages about scheduling rides with 5starpullup, while I truly miss being able to offer the 5starpullup experience. Given the current state of the pandemic in Georgia I am not ready to return to taking on passengers. I hope that everyone continue to practice social distancing and keep on wearing masks. If we do that hopefully before too long we will get back our normal
