Uber won't say whether it's notifying people who rode with the New York driver who tested positive for coronavirus

• An Uber driver is currently in isolation in a New York City hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, but it's not clear whether Uber will notify passengers who rode in his vehicle.
• Uber confirmed to Business Insider that the man who tested positive was a driver on its platform.
• But Uber declined to answer questions about whether it would notify passengers who came in contact with the driver, or whether it's giving that data to government health officials.
• A media report said the Uber driver had been active in Long Island. And Uber said the driver was not licensed to operate within the New York City's five boroughs.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

An Uber driver was confined to isolation in a New York City hospital this weekend after testing positive for COVID-19 - but it's not clear how recently he came in contact with passengers, and Uber won't specify whether people who rode with the driver are being notified.

State and federal authorities are encouraging people who came in contact with the novel coronavirus to self-isolate to reduce the spread of COVID-19. More than 500 cases have been reported in the US, including over 100 cases in New York state, prompting governor Andrew Cuomo to declare a state of emergency in New York on Saturday.

Uber confirmed in a statement to Business Insider that the rideshare driver hospitalized over the weekend was an Uber contractor and that the driver's access to the Uber app has been disabled.

Uber also said that the driver was not licensed by the New York City to drive in any of its five boroughs, suggesting that residents of the city would have been less likely to come into contact with the driver. The New York Post reported that the driver had been active in Long Island, to the East of New York City.

"We have a dedicated team working closely with public health authorities and stand ready to help in any way," Uber said in a statement.

But an Uber spokesperson declined to answer repeated questions about whether Uber would notify passengers who rode with the driver recently, or whether the company is sending government health agencies information about who might have come in contact with the driver.

The spokesperson also declined to clarify whether Uber would leverage its app's data in the future to notify people who came in contact with a driver or rider who tested positive for COVID-19, or whether Uber would report that data to the government.

A spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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