“Thousands of full-time rideshare drivers are still out on the streets trying to carve out a living,” notes The Hustle, interviewing more than 50 full-time rideshare drivers facing a difficult choice: “Stay home and sacrifice a livelihood, or keep driving in a depressed market and risk contracting the virus.”
As independent contractors, rideshare drivers don’t receive sick leave, unemployment insurance, or the…
Tag: masks
Apple Donates Millions of Masks to Healthcare Pros in America and Europe
An anonymous reader quotes Engadget:
Hospitals in numerous countries are struggling to provide basic supplies to healthcare workers, and tech companies are pitching in to address the shortfall. Tim Cook has revealed that Apple is donating “millions” of masks to healthcare professionals in Europe and the U.S. Their article notes that Alibaba has also been donating masks, test kits, protective suits and…
Gaming Peripheral Company Razer Shifts Some Production To Surgical Masks
Razer CEO Ming-Liang Tan announced on Thursday that the company will shift a number of its manufacturing lines from producing its own products to making surgical masks. Polygon reports: As COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, continues to spread around the world, healthcare officials are reporting shortages of essential resources, including surgical masks. Tan said Razer intends donate up…
Open-Source Project Spins Up 3D-Printed Ventilator Validation Prototype In Just One Week
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: In a great example of what can happen when smart, technically-oriented people come together in a time of need, an open-source hardware project started by a group including Irish entrepreneur Colin Keogh and Breeze Automation CEO and co-founder Gui Calavanti has produced a prototype ventilator using 3D-printed parts and readily available, inexpensive material….
People Fleeing Coronavirus Head To a New Safe Haven: China
When the coronavirus pandemic started worsening in the U.K. last week, Jennie Lan knew where she would feel safest: China. From a report: The graduate student at University College London was worried Brits weren’t taking precautions, such as wearing face masks. “People here didn’t attach a great significance to the coronavirus,” Ms. Lan said. On Tuesday, she will fly to China…
Chinese Facial Recognition Firm Says It Can Now Identify People Wearing Masks
Hanwang Technology, a Chinese firm specializing in facial recognition software, says it can now identify people that are wearing masks to protect against the coronavirus. The company says it used a sample database of around 6 million unmasked faces and a smaller database of masked faces to create the system. The Next Web reports: The Beijing-based firm, which also goes by…
US hospitals are already starting to run out of respirator masks crucial for coronavirus protection
As global demand skyrockets, hospitals are already running out of N95 respirator masks, crucial for treating infectious coronavirus patients. Source: https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-n95-mask-shortage.html
Seattle’s Patient Zero Spread Coronavirus Despite Ebola-Style Lockdown
First known U.S. case offers lessons in how and how not to fight the outbreak. From a report: The man who would become Patient Zero for the new coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. appeared to do everything right. He arrived Jan. 19 at an urgent-care clinic in a suburb north of Seattle with a slightly elevated temperature and a cough he’d…
eBay Bans Sales of Face Masks, Hand Sanitizer Amid Coronavirus Price Gouging
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread in the US and other countries, demand for products like face masks and hand sanitizer has led to a spike in prices. To combat price gouging, online retailer eBay is banning some listings related to the coronavirus. From a report: In a notice to eBay sellers posted Thursday and spotted earlier by CNBC, eBay…
WHO Estimates Coronavirus Death Rate At 3.4 Percent — Higher Than Earlier Estimates
The World Health Organization is warning that the novel coronavirus could be far more dangerous than the flu, with a mortality rate of 3.4%. The new estimates come as the U.S. death toll from the virus reaches 9. From a report: The global mortality rate — which includes more than 3,000 deaths — is many times higher than the “mortality rate”…