Despite the COVID-19, there are still many professionals who cannot stay at home. Among them, the transport sector and specifically, taxi drivers. How are you living this situation? Alejandro Garrido, a taxi driver for RadioTaxi Xàbia, tells us about it.
“Our work has changed a lot in recent weeks,” Garrido tells us. In fact, only 6 of the 18 taxi drivers that make up the group are working. “We are covering minimum services as we have agreed with the Town hall, we are less than 40% of the workforce on the street. Most have preferred to stay at home so as not to expose themselves or their families”, the taxi driver tells us.
How they protect themselves against the coronavirus
While this situation lasts, in taxis only one client can go per trip and security measures have been tightened. "We all wear gloves and masks and some colleagues have even put on plastic partitions to avoid any contact."
But in addition, they are obliged to carry out a thorough disinfection cleaning a day, although as Alejandro acknowledges, "every time a client comes down, I clean with water and bleach so as not to risk it."
There's hardly any work these days
When the Alarm Status was announced, Garrido acknowledges that he had to make many trips to the airport. "He took older foreigners who preferred to return to their countries in case they got sick and had their families take care of them."
But in the last days they hardly perform services. "They call us to accompany people without vehicles to the supermarket or to take or pick up people from the hospital but little else." Currently in Xàbia there are three taxis operating in the morning, two during the afternoon and only one at night.
Despite everything, Alejandro is calm and assures us that "we are handling the situation calmly." In addition, he who walks the streets of Xàbia every day with his taxi confirms that people are respecting the confinement: "There is practically no one on the streets, you only see movement near supermarkets or in the tobacco shop."
