A Lyft driver was diagnosed with COVID-19 a week after heated run-in with a customer who used racist language after the driver asked him to put on a face mask.
David Kangogo, the driver, revealed his diagnosis on his Instagram page on Tuesday, Nov. 24.
“I got diagnosed with COVID-19. I now am quarantined and I trust and believe I’ll get through this!” he captioned the post. “Thank you all for the support I’ve been receiving!”
He ended the post with some advice.
“Wear a mask, wash your hands and social distance.”
Kangogo’s announcement came a week after he got into a now-famous argument with a white couple while driving for Lyft in Issaquah, Washington. He filmed part of the interaction, and it went viral after he shared it on social media.
The footage showed the male customer, identified by The New York Daily News as Joe Kassuba, screaming racial slurs at Kangogo. Kassuba was reportedly upset because Kangogo asked him to put on his face mask after he’d removed it during the ride. He called Kangogo, a native of Kenya, the N-word and a “sand n—-r.”
In his Instagram post, Kangogo said he started feeling sick on Nov. 20, three days after the confrontation with Kassuba. He was tested the following day and received his results on Monday.
Kassuba was banned from using Lyft after the video went viral. He apologized and revealed how the video’s popularity impacted his life during an interview with The New York Post.
“We both lost the best jobs we’ve ever had and are being evicted from the house we rent,” he said.
“There really is no context to the incident — my behavior in the video was despicable.”
Kassuba blamed his behavior toward Kangogo on alcohol.
“I should have never said the things I said nor acted like a complete idiot,” he told The Post.
“He didn’t deserve that. Nobody does. I had too much to drink and lost control of my tongue and I said horrible things that I truly regret.”
