Due to a surge in coronavirus cases across the country, there’s been an increase in people showing up at testing centers.
Nurphoto / Getty Images
A rapid test drive through line in Orlando, Florida.
Unfortunately, certain locations are struggling with time efficiency — including various sites in NYC where some people have waited over four hours to be seen.
With lines this long, it comes as no surprise that someone has figured out a “hack” to avoid standing with a group of potentially contagious people while freezing your tits off for six hours. New York Times journalist Taylor Lorenz tweeted the following video, which has led to some mixed feelings on the Twittersphere:
The video was originally posted by TikTok user @thetipguynyc, whose account doesn’t appear to exist anymore. It gives detailed instructions on how to hire someone to wait in line for you through TaskRabbit — an app I’ve only used to get help assembling my Ikea furniture because I’m a worthless bag of bones.
TikTok / @thetipguynyc
Some people criticized this idea for potentially putting the Tasker in danger.
Prince told BuzzFeed that he’s never waited in line for a Task, and he usually fulfills requests for computer help.
My theory is that the request was for the visuals of the video, and another Tasker was probably the one to wait in line for him. Out of curiosity, I looked up the “Waiting in Line” Taskers in my area to confirm whether this was indeed a thing. Sure enough, dozens of people appeared.
Daniella Emanuel / BuzzFeed / TaskRabbit
It’s unclear how many people have actually used a Tasker to wait in line at a COVID testing site for them, but it’s pretty disheartening that this is an option people feel they might need to turn to. Here’s hoping access to testing improves nationwide, so no one has to be in an at-risk environment for prolonged periods of time.
