This newsletter now has its own Twitter account at @buzz_corona. I’m only doing one of these newsletters a day so they’re going to be enormous. Wash your hands. I love you.

NEW RESOURCES

TIME: Time for Kids Launches Free Digital Library for Those Affected Globally by School Closures During the Coronavirus Pandemic. “TIME for Kids, the school-based publication that has provided quality, trusted journalism to millions of students in elementary classrooms for 25 years, announced today that it will bring TIME for Kids to homes for the first time. As families, teachers and students adjust to school closures as a result of the global spread of COVID-19, the new TIME for Kids digital library will provide access to new issues of TIME for Kids and Your $, the financial literacy magazine for kids, each week. TIME for Kids will also make available a complete library of previously published editions from 2020 along with additional educational resources and activities.”

1 News (New Zealand): Website giving people chance to support artisan goods businesses amid coronavirus downturn. “The free to use online farmers market called Maker2U fast tracked to launch this week, in order to connect people and small businesses. Founder Hamish Hutton said the non-profit website allowed Kiwi makers and growers of food, drinks and other consumables to set up a store and sell directly to the public.”

USA Today: Gannett launches website to help local small businesses hit hard by coronavirus crisis. “Gannett, the owner of USA TODAY and more than 260 daily local media properties, is launching a nationwide effort to help communities support local small businesses during the coronavirus crisis. The media company announced Monday a new website, supportlocal.usatoday.com, that will allow users to select local businesses in their community to support by buying gift cards for use at a later time. Visitors and business owners can also add local businesses to the platform.”

WDBO: State Dept. of Health now offers COVID-19 breakdown by city. “The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) announced a new tool to keep residents informed about the status of the COVID-19 or coronavirus. A new COVID-19 dashboard is now available to the public and it will be updated twice a day. The case-by-case daily report will now include city-level data which will allow residents to better understand their situation.”

From No Kid Hungry North Carolina: School Meals Updates During COVID-19 Closures. This is a breakdown of where to get school meals for kids in North Carolina, broken out by county.

Poynter: Fighting the Infodemic: The #CoronaVirusFacts Alliance. “Led by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute, the #CoronaVirusFacts / #DatosCoronaVirus Alliance unites more than 100 fact-checkers around the world in publishing, sharing and translating facts surrounding the novel coronavirus.”

Duke University Medical Center Library & Archives: COVID-19 Core Clinical Resources Libguide. “COVID-19: Core Clinical Resources is a compilation of information and literature about COVID-19 that will be immediately useful to practicing clinicians at Duke. Please understand that this guide is also fluid and evolving since the topic is evolving rapidly, with an onslaught of literature and information.”

The Verge: iFixit is building a repair database for medical equipment, and it needs your help. “Repair specialist iFixit is building a database filled with repair information for the world’s hospital equipment in anticipation of the increased demand caused by COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. In particular, it’s calling for repair manuals for ventilators and BiPAP machines that can be used as ventilators. iFixit’s database can be found here, and the company is calling for people to create new device pages and upload photographs and manuals.”

Casebook: COVID-19 Resources For Human Services. From the front page: “We have worked on putting together a list of resources specific to the human services arena, which you can find in the four categories below. We hope those resources will be useful to you as you work on the frontlines of this effort.”

USEFUL STUFF

The Root: DJ D-Nice Breaks the Internet and Rallies A Parade of Stars with Daily, Nine-Hour Coronavirus Quarantine Party. “Every night since last Tuesday, the in-demand deejay – and hip-hop veteran – has mastered the art of social distancing and social media with an infectious music party, aptly titled Homeschool: Club Quarantine, via Instagram Live.”

Just Food: The Covid-19 coronavirus and the food industry – live blog (free to read). Live blog, been updating since the end of January, though obviously it’s updating much more frequently now.

AdAge: Meditation Brands Like Headspace Offer Free Services As Coronavirus Anxiety Rises. “As coronavirus anxiety rises among consumers, many popular meditation apps and wellness brands are making their services free and adding more offerings.”

Paste Magazine: An Expert’s Guide to Finding and Listening to Amazing Audiobooks While Social Distancing. “When it comes to audiobooks, you can easily find more than you’d expect for free and support your local community more than you realize. This is particularly important right now, as we’re practicing social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19. With that in mind, I wanted to share the tips, tricks, and secrets I’ve collected through writing about audiobooks for Paste for years. Here’s my personal guide to finding and listening to great audiobooks in three simple stages.”

CBR: Dynamite, ComiXology Offering Free Issue #1s During COVID-19 Quarantine. “Dynamite Entertainment has partnered with ComiXology to offer several of the publisher’s first issues for free during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. With readers across the globe quarantined in their homes, over a dozen Issue #1s will be offered starting this week, with more to follow as time passes.” One of the titles is Charlie’s Angels vs The Bionic Woman and I cannot even.

ClassicFM: Royal Opera House is streaming free ballet and opera online during coronavirus outbreak. “The Royal Opera House has announced that it will be launching a programme of online shows and masterclasses, following the coronavirus outbreak. The news comes as London’s famous opera house is just one of the music institutions to be affected by COVID-19, with many of its upcoming productions now forced to be cancelled or postponed.”

Vox: 7 coronavirus cleaning questions, answered by an expert. “In a time when people are consumed with cleaning, sanitation, and germs in a way that is new for many, there has been a tremendous amount of confusion around which cleaning products to use, and for what. Vox staffers put together some of the questions they have and asked me to answer them.”

OnMilwaukee: Where and how to stream virtual concerts during quarantine. “Artists across the globe have cranked up their creativity and are reaching fans in new ways, sometimes all while wearing pajamas. Despite self-isolation, their videos will make you feel more connected than ever before because, ultimately, we are all in this together. Now the important question: How do you find all of this amazing live music? We’ve got you covered!”

Smithsonian Magazine: 68 Cultural, Historical And Scientific Collections You Can Explore Online. “As efforts to contain the effects of the COVID-19 crisis ramp up, millions of people around the globe are social distancing and self-quarantining themselves in their own homes. To support those in search of diversion from the relentless news cycle, Smithsonian magazine has compiled a collection of 68 online culture, history and science collections you can browse from the comfort of your living room.”

UPDATES

CNN: US Army removes person tasked for social media after ‘inappropriate’ post on coronavirus. “A person who made an ‘inappropriate post’ on the US Army’s Instagram account has been ‘relieved,’ according to the Army. The images posted to the Army’s Instagram account this week were intended to be about the Army’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, though the images included emojis and jokes about the run on toilet paper.”

BGR: Verizon to give subscribers 15GB of free data during the coronavirus outbreak. “In a press release published a short while ago, Verizon said that its waiving overage charges for residential and small business wireless customers whose economic situation has been adversely impacted by the coronavirus.”

SOCIETAL IMPACT

Lakeshore Public Radio: In Oregon, Neighbors Use Social Media To Offer — And Ask For — Help. “Orders to stay home leave many people glued to their screens. In rural Oregon, some people are turning their time on social media into tangible help for neighbors coping with coronavirus.”

BBC: Global economy will suffer for years to come, says OECD. “The world will take years to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned. Angel Gurría, OECD secretary general, said the economic shock was already bigger than the financial crisis.”

Esquire: These ballet stars entertain millions via video conference and social media. “Ballet performers are some of the fittest on the planet, and many aren’t going to let the coronavirus get in the way of that. Stars of the American Ballet Theatres Isabella Boylson and James Whiteside have posted videos of them using a kitchen worktop as a stand-in ballet barre, while Russian Vadim Muntagirov – a dancer at the Royal Ballet in London – has posted videos of him pirouetting around the living room.”

TechCrunch: With kids and adults staying at home, are virtual worlds ready for primetime?. “We’ve been diligently following the development of virtual worlds, also known as the ‘metaverse,’ on TechCrunch. Hanging out within the virtual worlds of games has become more popular in recent years with the growth of platforms like Roblox and open-world games like Fortnite, but it still isn’t a mainstream way to socialize outside of the young-adult demographic.”

People: Little Free Libraries Converted to Food Banks During Coronavirus Pandemic: ‘Take What You Need’. “‘Take what you need, share what you can,’ reads one sign taped to a local Little Free Library, now converted into a mini food bank. This is the sentiment driving people across the country to fill their mini libraries with necessary supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

EdSurge: How Librarians Continue Their Work Digitally Even as Coronavirus Closes Libraries. “To get a sense of what the widespread closure of libraries could mean, and hear some creative ways libraries are reaching out digitally, we talked with Jessamyn West, an educational technologist who runs the librarian.net blog and is author of ‘Without a Net: Librarians Bridging the Digital Divide.'” A podcast with a lightly-edited transcript.

RESEARCH

New York Times: Lost Sense of Smell May Be Peculiar Clue to Coronavirus Infection. “Anosmia, the loss of sense of smell, and ageusia, an accompanying diminished sense of taste, have emerged as peculiar telltale signs of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and possible markers of infection.”

LiveScience: Treatments for COVID-19: Drugs being tested against the coronavirus. ” As of Friday (March 20), 86 clinical trials of COVID-19 treatments or vaccines that are either ongoing or recruiting patients. New ones are being added every day, as the case count in the U.S. (and globally) skyrockets. The drugs being tested range from repurposed flu treatments to failed ebola drugs, to malaria treatments that were first developed decades ago. Here, we take a look at several of the treatments that doctors hope will help fight COVID-19.”

POLITICS AND SECURITY

Reuters: Exclusive: Elite hackers target WHO as coronavirus cyberattacks spike. “Elite hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization earlier this month, sources told Reuters, part of what a senior agency official said was a more than two-fold increase in cyberattacks.”

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