Uber Technologies Inc. is set to require drivers and riders to wear a facemask and is designing technology to detect that drivers are doing so.

The new policy will be rolled out in the U.S. and certain other countries, according to a report today byCNN Business. The move comes as Uber restarts its ride-hailing business in territories where it had suspended or curtailed the services because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“As countries reopen, Uber is focused on safety and proceeding with caution,” Andrew Hasbun, Uber’s head of safety communications, said in a statement. “Today, we continue to ask riders to stay home if they can, while shipping safety supplies to drivers who are providing essential trips.”

He added that Uber’s team are “preparing for the next phase of recovery, where we will all have a role to play. We’ll communicate updates directly to users when ready, but in the meantime, we continue to urge all riders and drivers to wear masks or face coverings when using Uber.”

The wearing of face masks or face coverings has been compulsory in some countries while recommended in others as a precaution against spreading and catching coronavirus. Countries where face masks were compulsory have seen lower contagion rates and were able to bring the pandemic under control more quickly, seeing the practice — which has always been common in Asia but only slowly adopted in the West.

Uber has had mixed results during the pandemic. Although its core ride-hailing business has been suspended or seen large customer drops amid coronavirus lockdowns, its Uber Eats division has surged. Home-delivered food has come to the fore across many countries as restaurants have been banned from providing in-room dining. Uber has also expanded into package delivery.

A report April 28 suggested that the company was looking to lay off 20% of its global workforce amid the pandemic. The job cuts may not all be COVID-19 related, however, as Uber has gone through several rounds of employee layoffs as its aims to become profitable at some point in the near future. Previous job cuts include laying off a third of its marketing department after its initial public offering in July 2019 and cutting more employees from Uber Eats and its self-driving car division in October.

Despite interesting times, Uber’s share price hasn’t suffered too badly during the pandemic. It was sitting at $28.39 as of the close of trading Friday, down from a six-month high of $41.27 Feb. 11. That said, the price is roughly in the same trading range Uber has been trading over that period and is nearly double the $14.82 Uber’s shares hit March 18 during the coronavirus market plunge.

Photo: Marco Verch