COVID
NEWS...COVID NEWS...
TEESSIDE OPERATORS SAY THERE’S NO CLEAR GUIDANCE ON HOW TO OPERATE DURING THE PANDEMIC
There are calls from taxi and PHV firms for Tees Valley - as individual licensing authorities - to issue a “no mask, no ride” instruction to the public in order to protect taxi drivers from contracting coronavirus. A PH operator says that councils are not providing clear guidance over the wearing of masks in taxis and PHVs and that his drivers are “risking their lives”. In contrast Wolver- hampton Council has formally autho- rised taxi drivers to refuse carriage to people who are not wearing face cover-
ings, and do not have a medical ex- emption, after tak- ing advice from public health offi- cials. Rahese Karim, gen- eral manager at Falcon Taxis, in Mid- dlesbrough, said: “I have contacted [Middlesbrough] Council on numer- ous occasions and asked for guidance on this and all we’ve been given is a Gov- ernment leaflet. I don’t blame the licensing officers, I feel sorry for them as they are in the fir- ing line, it is who- ever is in charge of them. “Taxi drivers are not
even a metre apart [from passengers]. We can’t force [pas- sengers] to wear masks as there is no law to say they have to. If I decide that all customers have to wear masks and the competing firm down the road de- cides customers can get in without a mask it won’t be a fair playing field. “The council
is
charging us double in licence fees com- pared to Wolver- hampton who are giving them more guidance. Councils take a lot of money off taxi companies each year in fees, but there is no pro-
tection.” Mr Karim said he had told drivers to protect themselves as best they can, by wearing masks, while others - for instance who have health conditions such as asthma or diabetes - had been offered plastic screens. GP Dr Paul Williams, the former Labour MP for Stockton South, said councils needed to provide a clear “no mask, no ride” message. He has been backed by Councillor Matt Storey, leader of the Labour group on Mi d d l e s b r o u g h Council.
Dr Williams said: “Taxi drivers I have spoken to say that they would like to see a clear ‘no mask, no ride’ instruction to the public from local councils. With- out this message from the licensing authorities, their job becomes much more difficult. They describe a working day full of conflict with passengers re- fusing to cover up.” He added: “It makes no sense to man- date a protective environment
in
THOUSANDS OF CABBIES TO TAKE PART IN TRIAL ON ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING
Taxi drivers, clean- ers, retail assistants and others working in ‘high-contact’ professions, where they come close to a lot of different peo- ple every day, are taking part in a gov- ernment trial to evaluate the effec- tiveness
of
asymptomatic test- ing for coronavirus. Department of Health chiefs an- nounced
the
swabbing scheme on 9 July, stating that the launch will commence the next day. Firms taking part in the trial include taxi firm Addison Lee, BT, services firm Mitie
78
and pharmacy giant Boots. Each of the four businesses will receive thousands of tests for staff around the country, either home-swabbing kits which will be posted, or mobile testing sites which will be set-up in offices. The trial has been
initiated with the intention of trying to catch the virus early among people who are most likely to get infected, and then to stop them passing it on. Local authorities in Bradford, Newham, Brent and Oldham - areas with high
transmission rates - will also select groups of people they deem to be high-risk for asymp- tomatic testing and will book tests for people at walk-in sites. Those who test pos- itive will need to self-isolate and results will be shared with the NHS Test and Trace pro- gramme so contacts can be traced. It comes as a damn- ing investigation claimed officials ‘buffed’ the coron- avirus
testing
system and the numbers were a ‘total mess’ that did- n’t add up.
schools, health ser- vices, shops and public transport, but exclude taxis. Councillor Storey said: “We are asking taxi drivers to wear masks so it is only fair that their cus- tomers do the same. This is a two-way street and masks are far less effective if only one person is wearing one. “Taxi drivers have a right to a safe work- ing environment, as we all do, and by making masks man- datory for custom- ers we can ensure they and the wider public are not put at increased risk of infection.” A Middlesbrough Council spokesman said: “While it is a matter for private hire firms and the hackney trade to decide whether their drivers and passengers wear face coverings, we would hope most, if not all, will adopt such a common sense approach as
just one of a range of measures we can all take to limit the spread of coron- avirus.” However Councillor Steve Nelson, Stockton Council’s cabinet member for access and commu- nity safety, said: “Taxi and private hire drivers and operators are free to operate a ‘no mask, no ride’ approach if they wish and taxi legis- lation does permit them to refuse a passenger if they have reasonable cause. “To be clear, we can confirm that we consider refusal to wear a face mask as reasonable cause for a driver to refuse a passenger. We will also be contacting representatives of the trade to see if they need any fur- ther support.” Meanwhile,
a
spokeswoman for Redcar and Cleve- land Council said: “Under taxi legisla- tion, drivers can refuse to carry a passenger for any reasonable cause and refusing to wear a face mask is con- sidered a reas- onable cause. In light of this, drivers and operators can adopt a ‘no mask, no ride’ policy. “It would be the responsibility of each operator to carry out their own assessment of the risks and take the approach that is appropriate them.”
to AUGUST 2020
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112
