COVID-19 virus takes a life of a Nepalese immigrant, Anil Subba on 2020, March 24, Tuesday at Elmhurst Hospital, at 12:30 am. Subba on his late 40s hails from Jackson Height and was working as an Uber cab driver.
Anil had stopped working to avoid the COVID-19 effect. Before getting admitted he had transported a sick passenger from JFK airport to Westchester County. After the incident, Subash had immediately checked in Elmhurst hospital. Subba was kept on a ventilator for about two days before he died.
Anil is the only breadwinner of his family member and is blessed with three children ages 20, 22 and 11. His death would financially hit his family and cousins.
According to cousin Munindra Nembang, Subha was admitted to the hospital two weeks before his death. No external contact was allowed to the patient. Subba was allowed to connect to his family through voice mail.
Nembang said, “We tried to phone him, but nobody was allowed. The family members couldn’t talk to him.”
Apart from Anil, there are other six or seven members who are hospitalized by COVID-19.
Bhairavi Desai, executive director of New York Taxi Workers Alliance expresses the anxiety of every cab driver. He claims on the amount of fear the drivers are undergoing while transporting the passengers.
Desai acknowledges the forefront of risk associated with for-hire vehicles. He suggests the other taxi alliances to suspend their app-based ride. Throwing a strong statement, Bhairavi said, the transportation company must look at their employee’s welfare before policies and profit.
Through a statement, he said,
“If there is a clear pattern here, the companies and the city need to suspend the service and let drivers know they are already covered for unemployment [insurance] in New York state. Workers aren’t expendable. Put drivers first before profit and politics.”
