The coronavirus seems to have brought out the worst in some people with instances of intentionally contaminating foods to an uptick in racial slurs to purposefully coughing on others. Such was the case with an incident where an Uber driver got spit on by two teen girls. Reported by the Daily Mail Australia yesterday, the incident involved the teens who filmed themselves spitting, coughing and harassing an Uber driver, all while claiming to have coronavirus.
A video of the incident, believed to have been filmed in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, originated on a Facebook post and has been circulating online. It shows the teens harassing the Uber driver, who appears to be of Asian descent and is wearing a face mask. When the driver says he can’t drive the girls due to COVID-19, they fly into a rage.
‘We’ve already paid for the Uber,” one of the teens proclaims. ‘I’m actually going to f**king punch you in the head.”
The driver assures the passengers they haven’t yet paid for the trip. The teens commence coughing at the driver, adding the threat, “Well guess what? I’ve got the coronavirus anyway.”
As the driver begins dialing his cell phone, a passenger in the backseat is heard spitting on him.
Uber Steps Up During Coronavirus
Uber has been very active during the coronavirus epidemic taking to the frontline via Uber Health to provide free transportation for essential healthcare workers and Uber Eats to deliver free meals to healthcare workers in the US and Canada. Additionally, Uber Eats is waiving delivery fees to help support restaurants who are only allowed to share their services through delivery or take-out. Also part of the mix is Uber Freight, which is shipping critical goods with zero profits.
Not to be left out, Uber drivers continuing to transport passengers in cities around the globe while taking extra precautions to offer safe drives, both for their passengers and themselves.
Consequences
Such spitting and coughing incidents have become so prevalent, in the United States, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun charging perpetrators with terrorism.
As reported by Parentology on March 25, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen from the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released a memo stating, “Purposeful exposure and infection of others with COVID-19″ could be considered an act of terrorism with people who intentionally expose others to the virus facing potential of criminal charges under federal terrorism laws.
In Rosen’s memo, COVID-19 is said to meet the definition of a “biological agent.” The memo continues, “Threats or attempts to use COVID-19 as a weapon against Americans will not be tolerated.”
As for the two teens in Sydney who coughed and spit on the Uber driver, a New South Wales police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they were unaware of the incident.