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
Found via Reddit: Relief Fund Registry. “The Covid-19 crisis has severely impacted many folks’ ability to generate income and cover their living expenses. Fortunately, there are a multitude of funding options available for individuals during these troubling times, and we’ve created a simple aggregator of available organizations through which you or your family can apply to receive a helping hand.”
CNBC: Apple announces COVID-19 website and app in partnership with CDC and the White House. “Apple has developed a new website and app that will provide a screening tool for COVID-19 symptoms as well as up-to-date information from trusted sources about the coronavirus outbreak.”
News Channel Nebraska: New Website Aims to Help Nebraska Businesses During COVID-19 Pandemic. “There’s a new website designed to help Nebraska businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. NebraskaBuyLocal.com lets Nebraska Businesses sell gift cards with one hundred percent of proceeds going back to the business.”
Trussville Tribune: New ‘Carry Out Alabama’ website allows for people to easily search for restaurants that offer curbside services. “The website… lists all the restaurants and bars across the state that offer carry out, curbside or delivery services. People can narrow the focus to their area, select the type of food that they’re interested in and search for a specific restaurant. Listings give you the address, their website along with phone numbers.”
NTV: UNL launches educational program that helps families from home. “In a world where schools and families with young children continue to adapt to staying at home, more help is always needed. Inspired by Fred Rogers and the ‘Mister Rogers Neighborhood’ TV show, educators at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln launched “A Beautiful Day” — a new website that helps teachers, children, and families from home during this challenging time.”
KARK: Local business owners create new free resource to help businesses statewide. “A group of local Arkansas business owners has come together to provide a free resource for all businesses across the state —in an effort to continue serving their community during these difficult times.”
Rutland Herald: Building Vermont Art Online: Virtual tours of the state’s art museums. “Sarah Laursen and Sarah Briggs are in the process of creating a statewide online hub for visual arts. It may be the only site of its kind in Vermont, and soon it will be host to virtual tours, online activities for home and links to art centers all over the state.”
KCAL: University of Washington Web App Models Coronavirus-Related Projections By State. “A health research institute at the University of Washington has put together a web app that models COVID-19 projections by state.”
USEFUL STUFF
Irish Post: This helpful website shows how far you can go from home without breaking Ireland’s COVID-19 restrictions. “A NEW website has been created to offer guidance to the Irish public on how far they can roam from home while the current Covid-19 restrictions are in place. As of midnight, this past Friday, March 27, people across Ireland were ordered to remain indoors for the next two weeks to help slow the spread of coronavirus.”
Glasgow Times: Carol Voderman’s The Maths Factor: What you need to know about new educational website. “The Maths Factor site is designed to help teach maths skills through a variety of resources, with Vorderman featured in a number of educational videos, and has now been made available for free after schools were forced to shut their doors. The website is normally subscription based, costing users £2 per week to access content, but is currently available to use free of charge during the school closure period.”
Emerging Europe: History in the time of coronavirus: Virtual tours of emerging Europe’s museums. “With all governments announcing restrictions on gatherings, stay-at-home orders or even nationwide quarantines, a number of museums in the region have announced that they will be offering virtual tours to provide people with the possibility to enjoy the cultural heritage of emerging Europe without stepping outside the house. We have taken a look at some of them, and have come up with a list of the best.”
Rock Paper Shotgun: Magic: The Gathering Arena takes Friday Night Magic online as local stores shutter. “It’s not a great time for physical games. While us videogames lot are enjoying more time than ever to play, it’s practically impossible to run a weekly board or card game meet when all the shops are shut and any human interaction could lead to contracting a (potentially deadly) virus. In an effort to keep the magic alive, Wizards Of The Coast are running three weeks of special Friday Night Magic events to help MTG communities stay alive online with Magic: The Gathering Arena.”
The Conversation: How to address coronavirus misinformation spreading through messaging apps and email. “During times of crisis, like the current COVID-19 pandemic, people need access to reliable information in order to keep themselves safe, manage risk and avoid becoming a burden on others or health-care systems. However, ensuring that people have access to the right information when they need it has become a major challenge due to widespread digital misinformation.”
Inspire Magazine: Whitby web developer builds free online church service planner. “‘Churchserviceplanner.co.uk is a website churches can use to produce online services. Services can include a variety of content – text, videos from YouTube or Vimeo (including live streams if available) and links to other resources on the internet.'”
UPDATES
Hindustan Times: Google cancels its April Fools’ pranks this year due to the pandemic. “Google hasn’t officially announced it is cancelling this year’s April Fool’s joke. Business Insider (via The Verge) obtained an internal email which details the company’s decision to cancel the event.”
Variety: NBC Will Give Tuesday Slot to NBC News Coronavirus Special Reports. “NBC News will kick off a new show next week that’s scheduled to appear for the next three Tuesdays. But there is some sense among executives that it could keep going for weeks.”
SOCIETAL IMPACT
Sydney Morning Herald: Social media awash with fake treatments for coronavirus. “Drinking bleach, snorting cocaine, smoking and consuming alcohol will not treat or prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Nor is there any evidence supporting the use of the anti-malarial drugs mentioned by Trump. Yet the list of quack remedies grows as the deadly disease sickens and kills thousands of people around the world.”
Slate: I’ve Been Social Distancing for Years. Here’s What I Learned.. “On a recent episode of How To!, Celeste Headlee, author of Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving, shared tips for staying sane during the isolation and anxiety of coronavirus quarantine. Long before the pandemic, Headlee practiced her own kind of social distancing while doing research for her book, and learned some lessons in the process about how to slow down. This transcript has been condensed and edited for clarity.”
Reuters: Exclusive: Ross Stores, Other Retailers Cancel Vendor Orders Following Coronavirus Hit. “After closing stores around the world to curb the spread of the coronavirus, retailers are now telling some vendors to immediately cancel orders. On Thursday, discount store operator Ross Stores Inc sent a letter to its vendors, notifying them it would cancel all merchandise purchase orders through June 18 due to the impact the novel coronavirus has had on its business.”
Forward: Jewish matchmaking won’t stop for coronavirus — but it has moved online. “As public spaces have shut down and many companies transitioned to working from home, engagement on the Jewish dating sites JDate and JSwipe increased between 10% and 20%, according to JSwipe founder David Yarus.”
Pitchfork: Beatles’ Iconic Abbey Road Crosswalk Gets Repainted Because Nobody Is Outside. “A London municipal crew was able to repaint the crosswalk in front of Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles shot the cover to their 1969 album. The area’s usual heavy foot traffic—which you can watch live on a webcam—has been drastically reduced by the city’s social-distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which made the update possible according to NBC News.”
RESEARCH
MediaPost: Social Media, Local TV News Are Top COVID-19 Information Sources, Trust Issues Remain. “Social media — just ahead of local TV news — is the place U.S. consumers are turning to for local information on COVID-19, according to a survey from Magid — however, trust issues remain. The consumer researcher says social media — which includes Facebook, Twitter — pulled in 34% number; local TV newscasts, 33%; with national newscast (ABC, NBC, CBS), 28%. National cable TV networks (CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC) are at 20%. Results hear tally multiple overall mentions of news sources for the story.”
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Categories: coronabuzz
In the Jewish tradition, we perform good deeds as well as pray for the welfare of the sick, hoping that all we do will accrue to their merit; and this past week, I’ve been emailing my friends (over 600 mailboxes) Jewish names of the sick (in Hebrew, “cholim”). Last night, based on a friend’s suggestion, I created a Google sheet (which anyone with the below-listed hyperlink can edit) listing names of *cholim*. Please feel free to let your RBers know about this list; and may all *cholim* experience a complete recovery soon (*r’fuah shleimah b’qarov*)!
The hyperlink: http://shorturl.at/mnKY8 .