'I don't need coronavirus': Uber driver sends a racist text message after booting an Asian passenger out of his car over fears of the deadly disease

  • Melbourne Uber driver refused to collect Asian man over fears of coronavirus 
  • In text messages to the passenger the driver said 'I don't need coronavirus'  
  • A Chinese woman claims she had to wait in her car instead of her doctors office 

By Eliza Mcphee For Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

Damning text messages have exposed a racist Uber driver who refused to pick up an Asian passenger over fears he would contract the deadly coronavirus.

The Malaysian man was waiting to be picked up in Melbourne on Wednesday when the driver spotted him standing on the road.    

In text messages seen by The New Daily, the passenger told his driver he was standing outside a carwash. 

'Hello? I'm in front of the car wash. You've passed me I think,' he wrote.

'OK, got it!,' the driver replied. 'I don't want to get coronavirus.' 

A Melbourne Uber driver refused to collect a passenger, claiming he didn't 'need coronavirus'

A Melbourne Uber driver refused to collect a passenger, claiming he didn't 'need coronavirus'

The shocking exchange comes in the wake of a string of other racist remarks Asian people have been subjected to since the outbreak of the virus in the Chinese province of Wuhan. 

Wai Hoey, a Chinese-Australian, said he and his wife had also been the victims of racism since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

While the couple were standing at a set of traffic lights a man noticed they were there and then took a few steps away.

Mr Hoey said the same thing happened on another occasion when he was using a shopping centre's elevator. 

Mr Hoey and his wife were getting off at the same level as two elderly women.

Passengers are seen wearing face masks as they arrive at a station in Hong Kong

Passengers are seen wearing face masks as they arrive at a station in Hong Kong

But he claims that after the women realised they were Chinese, they decided to press a lower floor so they could get off separately.

'They obviously did not want to be in the same lift as us,' Mr Hoey said. 

'We need all rational people to help stop the racist virus from spreading and take us back to the racially less tolerant days.' 

Another man, Lionel Leung, said his friend was forced to wait in her car instead of the waiting room at a doctors office - because she was wearing a face mask.

To make matters worse, it was a 40C day. 

'Because she had a mask on and she's Chinese, the girl at the reception said to her 'yes, we have your appointment time here. The doctor's not ready as yet, can you please wait in your car?'' Mr Leung said. 

He said the receptionist told her to put the air-conditioning on and she would be called when the doctor was ready. 

A spokesperson for Uber told Daily Mail Australia there were non-discrimination policies set in place.

'We have clear non-discrimination policies that are laid out in our Community Guidelines, that driver-partners are required to acknowledge,' the spokesperson said.

'Last year we also rolled out mandatory educative materials to all drivers who use the Uber app in Australia. These modules include information on the legal and regulatory requirements of rideshare drivers, including those relating to anti-discrimination laws.

'Anyone who feels they were discriminated against should contact Uber. We have a dedicated team that looks into these issues and takes appropriate action.' 

In Australia there are now 14 confirmed cases of coronavirus. 

AUSTRALIANS WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

NEW SOUTH WALES: 4 

January 25

  • Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease.
  • Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China.
  • They are being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital and are in stable condition.

January 27 

  • A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW.
  • The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms.
  • She is being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital.

VICTORIA: 4

January 25

  • A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia.
  • The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19.
  • He is now in quarantined isolation at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east.

January 29

  • A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus.
  • He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. 
  •  The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre. He was assessed as being well enough to stay at home.

January 30

  • A woman in her 40s is found to have coronavirus. 
  •  She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family.
  • She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital.          

    February 1

    • A woman in her 20s in Melbourne is found to have the virus

     QUEENSLAND: 4

    January 29

    • Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national wass diagnosed with the virus.
    • He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital.

    January 30

    • A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition.  

    February 4

    • An eight-year-old boy has been diagnosed coronavirus. He is also from the tour group where the other Queensland cases came from    

    February 5  

    The case was found in a 37-year-old man, who was a member of a group of nine Chinese tourists in quarantine on the Gold Coast

    SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 2

    February 1

    • A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus.

    CHINA: 2

    January 30

    • Two Australians have been confirmed as having the virus in Wuhan itself. Australia has raised the travel alert level to 'do not travel' for the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - and for the entire Hubei province.
    • Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says unless people have contact with someone who is unwell and has come from that part of China, there is no need for current concern.

     

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    Melbourne Uber driver refuses to pick up Asian passenger over fears of coronavirus

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