感染怖いが休めない、ニューヨークの料理宅配ライダーたち

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大防止のためレストランなどが閉鎖された米ニューヨークでは、自宅で食事をとる習慣のない市民らが、自転車で料理を運ぶ宅配業者にますます頼るようになっている。（写真は米ニューヨーク・マンハッタンの1番街で道路を横断する料理宅配業者の配達員）
　飲食店やバーに対する閉鎖命令が出て以来、料理の宅配業務を担う約４万人の配達員が、市内で重要な役割を果たしている。こういった配達員のほぼ全員が健康保険や在留許可を持たない移民たちだ。彼らは感染を恐れてはいるが、働き続けるほかないと言う。
　ブルックリンに住むアルベルト・ゴンザレスさんはＡＦＰの取材に対し、「ほかの人たちが家にいるとき、われわれは新型ウイルスに感染するリスクに直面する。本当に不安だ」と語った。
　「家には妻と４人の子どもがいる。対策としてみんな屋内で過ごしているが、私が外出することで家族を危険にさらしているとしたら何の意味があるんだ」
　移民支援団体「メーク・ザ・ロード・ニューヨーク」の活動にも参加しているゴンザレスさんは、配達員には「より手厚い保護が必要」だと語った。
　「どういった人が検査を優先的に受けられるのか、保険や在留許可がない人々が検査や治療の費用を払わなければならないかどうかもはっきりしない」とゴンザレスさんは話した。
　配達員らは感染リスクを最大限減らそうと苦心しており、多くは手袋やマスクを着用し、頻繁に消毒ジェルを使用し、中には自転車のハンドルをポリ袋で覆っている配達員もいる。

■「チップを増やそう」　ＳＮＳの呼び掛けにＮＹ市民は
　マンハッタン中心部で、配達用の電動自転車から降りたメキシコ人のルイス・ベンチュラさん（３０）は「食べ物を配達するたびに、消毒剤で手を消毒し、手袋を取り換えている」とＡＦＰの取材に答えた。
　ベンチュラさんは、数日前までギリシャ料理店の調理師として働いていたが、急速な新型ウイルスの流行拡大によって売り上げが激減したため、職を失ったという。
　ベンチュラさんは料理の宅配会社ポストメイツと契約しており、時給は９ドル（約９８０円）。ニューヨークの最低賃金１５ドル（約１６００円）を下回っている。
　「正直なところ、この金は今月中には手に入らない」とベンチュラさんは嘆く。
　西アフリカのギニア出身のアブドゥラエ・ディアロさん（１９）は、配達先でドアノブやエレベーターのボタンに触るときに特に注意を払っていると話した。
　料理の宅配会社シームレスで２年働いてきたディアロさんは「誰が病気か分からないから」と話し、「ほかに選択肢がないから仕事を続ける」と付け加えた。
　一部のニューヨーク市民はソーシャルメディア上で、連帯を示すために配達員へのチップを増やすよう呼び掛けている。
　だが、ＡＦＰの取材に応じた１０人ほどの配達員らは、これまでよりもチップが増えたと感じたことはないと話した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/03/19-16:35）

With New York restaurants closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, residents unused to eating at home are increasingly relying on the city's army of bicycle delivery people for their dinner.
The 40,000 workers, almost always immigrants without health insurance or legal papers, are playing a critical role since all eateries and bars were ordered shut on Monday until April 1.
The riders, who zip around the Big Apple on pedal and electric bikes with parcels of takeout hanging from handlebars, fear contagion but say they have no choice but to continue working.
While others are at home, we face the risk of getting COVID-19. This truly worries me, Alberto Gonzalez, who has no health care coverage, told AFP.
I have a wife and four children at home, they are all taking steps to stay inside, but what good is it if I put them at risk for being on the streets?
The closures allow New Yorkers to order a delivery or pick-up a takeout, just not sit in restaurants, providing some consolation to the millions stuck at home.
Gonzalez, who lives in Brooklyn and also works with the pro-immigrant organization Make The Road New York, says the riders need more protection.
It is not clear who has priority for the tests, and whether those without insurance or legal status will have to pay for the tests and treatment, he said.
The drivers are trying to eliminate as much as risk as possible so they don't catch the virus which has killed more than 7,000 people worldwide and brought cities grinding to a halt.
Many wear gloves and masks and regularly apply disinfectant gel while some have even taken to wrapping plastic bags around the handlebars of their bikes.
Every time I deliver food I put sanitizer on my hands and change my gloves, Mexican delivery driver Luis Ventura told AFP as he got off his electric bike in the central Manhattan.
The 30-year-old lost his job as a chef at a Greek restaurant a few days ago due to plummeting business sparked by the fast-spreading outbreak.
Some restaurants are closing and letting staff go after a collapse in orders have left them struggling to pay rent and wages.
Ventura continues to work for food delivery company Postmates, where he makes $9 an hour, less than New York's $15 minimum wage.
Honestly this month the money will not reach me, he lamented.
Abdoulayle Diallo, from Guinea in West Africa, says he takes extra care when touching doorknobs and elevator buttons in customers' buildings.
You don't know who could be sick, said the 19-year-old, who has worked for delivery company Seamless for two years.
I am going to continue working because I have no choice. If I sit at home I don't get paid at all, he added.
The delivery men are part of America's gig economy: they receive no benefits and only get paid for the work they do.
Some New Yorkers on social media have called on residents to increase tips for delivery people out of solidarity.
But about a dozen dealers interviewed by AFP said they hadn't seen an uptick in citizens' generosity.
The job is down too much, 70 percent, said 60-year-old Mexican Martin Balderas, a delivery man for Manhattan fried chicken restaurant Atomic Wings.
I pray to God to avoid contagion, but we are all at risk, said Balderas, who earns $8 a hour and has no health insurance.
Balderas, who supports his wife in New York, and sends money to children and grandchildren in Mexico, says he also cannot afford to self-isolate.
The family has to eat, and the rent is not forgiving here, he said.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio offered interest-free loans of up to $75,000 for businesses with fewer than 100 employees that prove they have lost at least 25 percent of their income.
But it cannot save many restaurants burdened with sky-high rents.
For Ousmane Savadogo, a 33-year-old delivery man from the Ivory Coast, it all depends on how long the crisis goes on for.
If this lasts two weeks, that's fine. But if it lasts longer, things get complicated! he told AFP.