Coronavirus: The challenge facing UBER this weekend comes after @UBER_MEX announced on Saturday February 1st, 2020, that it had temporarily deactivated two drivers and 240 user accounts due to possible exposure.
The news comes in a context where the world’s attention is focused on the development of this threat that can lead to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
How did UBER announce it?
It can be guessed that UBER’s communication team had to make quick decisions. On Friday January 31st, the company received a request for information from the Secretary of Health of Mexico City and the following day sent a message with the news of the temporary cancellation of the account of the users involved due to possible exposure to coronavirus.
In this message, the phone number of the Epidemiological and Sanitary Intelligence Unit (UIES) is provided.
Some users concerned about this message and the health alert it caused due to coronavirus went to social networks in search of answers.
Twitter user @normasanchez7 reported that she was trying to get answers from UBER through social networks, email and their support area without being able to receive a response so she resorted to the support of @julioastillero to get the attention of the company who finally shared the following statement:
UBER chose to share said statement as a response to the user and did not publish it directly on their feed.
Dozens of media outlets have picked up this news and have viralized it. Up to this moment, the presence of coronavirus in Mexico has not been confirmed. The quick reaction and collaboration of companies in cases like this can make the difference in the time it takes to reach our country.
Coronavirus: What’s ahead for UBER’s communications team?
It’s possible that UBER will spend extra hours this weekend planning responses to possible questions from users and the media.
Providing clear information and sharing it wisely is key to success in resolving this crisis due to a health emergency such as the current one, which could have been even better if response times to users had been a priority.
It could even be recognized that a company relies on the strength of information. UBER has an advantage over other options by being able to make use of its database to track users and drivers in situations at risk from this coronavirus situation or others.
Every day companies of all sizes must face communication challenges and in the digital field a success or failure is magnified, so having a strategic plan, well-defined containment processes and a professional community manager provides stability and confidence in companies.
The case that UBER has in its hands today can have many outcomes, it all depends on the speed with which they continue to make decisions as well as the communication strategy with which they come out positive in a situation to prevent an emergency.
