Uber has suspended its carpool feature in hopes of curbing the spread of COVID-19, better known as the coronavirus.
“Our goal is to help flatten the curve of community spread in the cities we serve. With that in mind, we are suspending the Uber Pool service in the United States and Canada,” Andrew Macdonald of Uber stated.
“We remain in close contact with local leaders and will continue to work with them to discourage non-essential travel,” he continued.
As of now, these features are only suspended in the U.S. and Canada. Moving forward, Uber will look at possibly suspending these features in other markets. Previously, Uber stated that it would possibly suspend the accounts of riders that and drivers that have been diagnosed. The ride-sharing company has already taken such action in countries like Mexico in the hopes of slowing down the virus.
Health officials have previously stated that social distancing precautions may need to last into July or August. The ride-sharing company has not indicated how long the suspension will last.
