Mar 17, 2020 - Economy & Business

Uber Pool service halted amid coronavirus outbreak

Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Uber suspended its Uber Pool service in the United States and Canada in an attempt to help protect riders and drivers from the novel coronavirus pandemic, the company announced Tuesday, per TechCrunch.

What they're saying: “Our goal is to help flatten the curve of community spread in the cities we serve," Andrew Macdonald, senior vice president of Uber Rides and Platform, told BuzzFeed in a statement. “We remain in close contact with local leaders and will continue to work with them to discourage non-essential travel.”

Zoom out: Uber Pool allows passengers to share rides. Other Uber rides, including UberX and deliveries with UberEats, will remain available, per an email sent to the company's drivers Tuesday morning.

  • The ride-hailing app now displays a message for riders, advising users to “travel only if necessary,” and “exercise caution for your safety and the safety of our community.”

Go deeper: Coronavirus throws cities into crisis mode

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Axios
Updated 22 hours ago - Health

U.S. coronavirus updates

Data: The COVID Tracking Project; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez announced Monday that he would sign an emergency order to again close many businesses, including indoor dining at restaurants, party venues, gyms and fitness centers, effective Wednesday.

The big picture: The move comes as cases are surging in Florida, even as the state sees an increasing gap between testing and confirmed cases.

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Marisa Fernandez
Jun 23, 2020 - Health

Fauci says Trump has never told coronavirus task force to slow down testing

Anthony Fauci and three other members of the White House coronavirus task force testified to Congress Tuesday that President Trump has never told them to slow down coronavirus testing, and that the U.S. "will in fact be doing more testing" as infections continue to surge in a number of states.

Why it matters: White House officials have insisted that President Trump's claim at a rally on Saturday that he asked to slow down testing because it results in a higher confirmed case count was "tongue-in-cheek." Trump said on Tuesday, however, that the comments were not a joke, telling reporters: "I don't kid."

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Ina Fried
Jun 23, 2020 - Technology

Apple makes concessions to developers and antitrust regulators

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo: Christoph Dernbach/picture alliance via Getty Images

While not heavily touted by Apple on Monday, the company made several moves designed to address some key criticisms leveled by developers and antitrust authorities in recent weeks.

Why it matters: The moves likely won't end all the grumbling or stop regulators in their tracks, but they might turn down the heat for Apple over charges that it is increasingly behaving like a monopolist.

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