I’ve been doing gig work for about nine months, driving for Uber and delivering food for Uber Eats and Postmates. It’s my only source of income right now — I became homeless recently, and I depend on gig work to pay for the motel I’m staying at now. The flexibility of this work is vital to me as a single dad to be able to make an income and care for my two-year-old daughter rather than having to just work to pay childcare.

I went to the hospital yesterday because I had a sore throat, shortness of breath, and other symptoms. I didn’t originally think I had COVID-19 — I thought I might have strep because my daughter had it last month. When I went to the hospital, I was stopped at the door, asked about my symptoms, and tested for flu and strep.

I tested negative for both. The doctor apologized to me and told me I couldn’t be tested for COVID-19 despite having all the symptoms on the grounds that I haven't traveled outside of the US, despite the fact that as an Uber driver that also handles food, I could become a public health hazard. Because I tested negative for flu and strep and wasn’t eligible for a test, I was advised to self-quarantine.

But I cannot do that because to qualify for any sort of pay or aid gig companies are offering sick workers, I have to take a test, and test positive.

Testing in the US is still only being reserved for the rich and those that would require hospitalization, so me trying to get tested did absolutely nothing but leave me with a bill I now can't afford to pay.

I only went to a hospital because I believed the companies when they said they would take care of us when we were sick. But because of the very high barrier companies have around qualifications to receive aid, I can’t qualify for any of it. I can’t get a test, and because I can’t get a test, I can’t get any aid to take time off.

And that means I’m given no choice but to continue working. If I miss a payment to the motel, they kick me out the door. My job means I could be a vector for this disease. We’re interacting with ten, fifteen, maybe twenty people a day, getting in enclosed spaces in our cars, driving them around.

Some of the people we’re delivering food to are staying in and ordering food because they’re especially vulnerable — a friend of mine is self-isolating because she lives with her grandparents, who have lung conditions, and she’s having food delivered to her house so that she doesn’t have to leave. That means people like me who have symptoms and have to work could be bringing her food.

I know it would be selfish to continue to work. If we were to weigh priorities here, it’s better for me to be homeless than for people to die. But I have a two-year-old daughter. I want to self-quarantine like my doctors have suggested, but financially, and for my family, it will cause a crisis.

I’m dreading the idea of going to work. The possibility of spreading this illness to vulnerable people is weighing heavily on my mind. The lives of the elderly and immunocompromised are just as important as my life. I’m making an impossible choice between spreading illness and being unable to care for my daughter.

The policies companies are offering for workers do more damage than good, because they’re not taking preventative measures — they’re taking measures only after it’s too late. They’re more concerned with their image than the health of their workers, their customers, and the general public.

Companies and our healthcare system need to loosen restrictions on who can get aid — if you’re showing symptoms and choose to self-quarantine to prevent spreading illness, you need access to financial aid so you can stay home. I understand that these companies want to protect their profit margins, but we’re talking about human lives.

I’d like to see the government stepping up too — they have the ability to pass emergency measures to make sure workers can stay home if they need to, and include gig workers in any measures they pass. We need emergency mandates at the national or state level to allow us to collect unemployment or give us as much paid time off as we need to recover — even if we are classified as independent contractors and otherwise ineligible for these benefits. And we need emergency bills passed that will put a pause on evictions and mortgage payments so that workers don’t have to worry about becoming homeless because they’re staying home from work.

It's abundantly clear the working class will not be acknowledged during this crisis. Workers will have to continue going to work despite carrying this disease because to qualify for the financial assistance programs gig companies are offering, you NEED to take the COVID-19 test, and they will continue to refuse to test us because they realize our already weak economy would crumble overnight without the labor of our most vulnerable. I know I'm not going to die, but plenty of customers & workers could.

Our jobs, and our government, don't care. Companies could be directly responsible for the death of customers because workers like me can't afford even a single day off work. This is the reality I and millions of other Americans live in.