[By Paul Hiebert]
As concern over the coronavirus shows no sign of abating, Lyft has recently announced an exclusive partnership with body care company EO Products to provide hand sanitizer to its drivers at “no cost to them,” a Lyft spokesperson told Adweek.
EO Products is currently in the process of shipping at least 200,000 bottles of its Everyone line of hand sanitizer spray to Lyft driver hubs and service centers located in 10 major cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
“A clear and mutually understood commitment to public health safety and shared community-minded values led leadership at EO Products to reach out to their counterparts at Lyft,” said Tom Feegel, president of EO Products. “In a matter of days, we were able to find a way to partner to keep drivers and riders safe.”
In recent weeks, consumer demand for hand sanitizer has soared. Between late January and late February, U.S. sales of hand sanitizer jumped 67% compared to the same time period in 2019, according to market research firm NPD Group. EO Products has seen a similar bump, and warns visitors on its homepage that the company is experiencing “slight shipping delays” due to high demand.
“We are a company that makes something that can help people stay healthy right now, so we believe we should be helping people however and as much as we can,” said Feegel. “With this in mind, we’ve provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in hand sanitizer at zero cost to Lyft, because we believe it’s the right thing to do.”
Both Lyft and Uber currently have guidelines posted on its respective websites advising drivers how best to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Instructions include washing one’s hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and using hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content.
Lyft’s website also said it will notify drivers when the bottles of Everyone hand sanitizer are available for pickup in their city.
Uber did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are currently 938 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S.
