Hundreds of taxi drivers infected with coronavirus; "Implementation of national plan from taxi drivers' pockets"

The CEO of the Tehran Municipality Taxi Organization has announced that 302 taxi drivers in Tehran have been infected with the coronavirus.

Alireza Qanadan, who spoke to ISNA news agency on Monday, April 15, did not provide detailed information about the condition of the infected people, but said that "until the end of the illness period, these drivers will be provided with a basket of goods in order to support these groups."

On the other hand, Morteza Zameni, CEO of the National Union of Urban Taxi Drivers, told IRNA on April 15 that according to statistics from "taxi driving organizations," 400 people have been infected with the coronavirus.

He said that of these, 22 people have died, 13 of whom were from Tehran.

According to these statistics, only 100 taxi drivers infected with Corona must be from cities other than Tehran.

So far, no separate report has been published on the number of infected drivers in different cities in Iran.

In recent days, with the implementation of the smart distancing plan, taxi drivers have been required to carry a maximum of two people in the back seat.

Referring to this plan, the CEO of the Tehran Taxi Organization said, "A national plan cannot be implemented from the pockets of taxi drivers."

He said that taxi fares are set based on four people, and now that according to the regulations of the smart distancing plan, three people must ride, the government must pay the "surplus fare" or "the fare for the fourth person should be divided equally among the other three passengers."

Mr. Qanadan emphasized that if these items are not provided, the organization cannot ask taxi drivers to observe the social distancing plan.

Source: Radio Farda