Apple, Microsoft, Alibaba and More Respond To Covd-19 Crisis

Coronavirus took the world economy with a shock forcing businesses to close their operations amid the spread of the virus. A month ago no one would have thought how daily life would change overnight. Many countries have announced countrywide lockdowns and almost one billion people are already staying at home working remotely or isolating themselves.

However, Businesses around the world are stepping up to battle this pandemic hand in hand. From providing gloves to manufacturing ventilators, offering free services, and hopefully soon the vaccines. While the pandemic continues to spread at a pace, large corporations and small businesses are offering whatever help possible. Many are creating creative solutions to protect healthcare workers and staff. Some are offering services to help the world stay connected in this situation.

Recently the tech giants including Microsoft, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Youtube issued a joint statement announcing that they are cooperating to help fight rumors and to spread authentic information through their platforms..

It looks likes businesses are putting it up together to help fight the outbreak. In this article, we will discuss some tech businesses both big and small that are putting up efforts to help the community in these times of crisis.

Tech companies that are helping in the fight against the virus 

Apple released a website and app, which asks questions to screen for COVID-19 symptoms and guides the public to the resources for information on screening and social isolation. This offering was developed in the partnership with CDC, the White house coronavirus task force and the federal emergency management services. 

Apple also donated 10 million face masks to the health care workers. Additionally, the company is also closely monitoring new apps submitted to the app store related to COVID-19. Earlier this month, Apple updated its developer guidelines to note that only authorised entities such as government organizations, health-focused companies, educational institutes and NGOs should submit such apps. 

CDC (Centres for Disease Control) used Microsoft’s healthcare chatbot to design its own version of the bot that questions and answers to COVID-19. It runs on Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure, but is maintained by CDC, not sharing any personal information with the tech giant. Some other health care institutions are also using the chatbot to help their staff in fight against COVID-19.  

Microsoft has also been working with the Health Metrics and Evaluation Institution at the University of Washington to create a series of data visualizations that aim to predict the virus stats in every U.S. state and estimate the pressure on its healthcare system. Additionally, the company also released a free set of academic articles on coronavirus’ research. The company is also collaborating with other tech companies to combat fraud and the spread of false information about the virus. 

As the fraudsters have been trying to cash on the panic situation by increasing the fraudulent activities online, Shufti Pro has launched a new campaign “Shuftify for Humanity”  and announced that it will provide 10 million free ID and face verifications to the companies working on the front line to contain COVID-19. This service will help health care organisations, research and educational institutions, and NGOs and Philanthropic organisations in serving the community. The primary motive behind this service was to fulfil corporate and social responsibility in time of crisis.

Even though African countries have recorded the low rates of coronavirus cases so far, Jack Ma, the founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant is not ready to take any chances; through his foundation, the company is donating 1.1. Million testing kits, 6 million masks, 60,000 protective suits and face shields to the African countries. All of these have been sent to Ethiopia, from where they will be distributed to every African country. He responded to it as “As members of the global community, it will be irresponsible of us to sit on the fence, panic, ignore facts or fail to act. We need to take action now.”

This isn’t the first time businesses are coming up to help in the situation of crisis, Facebook, Google, and other tech companies had stepped up to various disastrous situations in the past as well. So far the pandemic situation is gradually increasing and it’s necessary for everyone to fulfil their social and corporate responsibility. Now is the time to unite and help the world without ay discrimination.