French taxi union steps up efforts to protect against COVID-19 by handing out face masks to drivers

French taxi union, Union Nationale Des Taxis Parisian (UNT), have taken to the streets of Paris to hand out protective face masks to the city's taxi drivers, in a bid to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In footage posted on social media, representatives of the UNT can be seen handing out the masks to a long queue of passing taxi drivers in the French capital.

The supply of the masks to the union was arranged by Parisian authority, La Region lle-de-France, led by Valerie Pecresse. Manon Laporte, a regional councillor for lle-de-France also made great efforts to ensure the supply and distribution happened.

In many parts of the world, taxi drivers are considered an important part of the fight against COVID-19, with many public transport facilities offering limited services.

Many taxi services around the world have offered their help to transport key-workers, food, groceries and medication during a time when travel has been severely restricted.

But without Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) drivers and passengers are put at risk of contracting the deadly virus.

One Parisian taxi driver has thanked the efforts of the city's authorities to help protect drivers, saying: "A big thank you to our taxi colleagues present at the mask distribution in Paris. Protect us to protect others. Thanks to @vpecreesse @ManonSlaporte @iledefrance for the masks."

Image credit: Twitter - @hocinetaxi