January 12, 2021 update: A group of New York state lawmakers have just sent a letter requesting Governor Andrew Cuomo to include gig workers, such as food-delivery platform drivers for Uber Eats and Grubhub, as essential workers in line to receive the next round of COVID-19 vaccinations. At the Albertson’s grocery store where Hubert Evans works in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Baldwin Hills, four people tested positive for COVID-19 in one 10-day period in December.
Although he has tested negative twice, the 77-year-old grocery store veteran knows he’s at risk. “It’s kind of scary,” said Evans. “We have thousands of people in and out of that store all the time, so there’s a lot of damage that can be done.”