Tech companies are stepping up in the coronavirus pandemic response – STAT

Tech giants are stepping up to the plate to play a part in the coronavirus pandemic response, tapping into their wide-ranging resources to help experts get a handle on the spread of the virus and to fill in gaps in the governments response. But its not clear yet how or to what extent those efforts could help bring the crisis under control.

In recent weeks, major tech companies have publicized stronger efforts to police misinformation on their platforms, rolled out testing and triage tools, and donated masks and other medical supplies. Theyre helping health officials share accurate information and providing academic researchers with massive data sets to help predict the spread of the virus or forecast its impact on hospitals.

The response has drawn praise for Big Tech companies, who have long been beleaguered by criticism about privacy violations, harassment and misinformation on their platforms, and other problems.

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But Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, and Microsoft who are worth a collective $5 trillion have also faced criticism that their efforts do not go far enough. Google, for example, has been called out for giving out what amounts to coupons for ads to organizations that may find themselves with no money. The pandemic has also proven challenging for tech companies to respond to, particularly when policing falsehoods that dubious peddle cures or fuel conspiracy theories and which can easily spread on the platforms.

Heres a rundown of how Big Tech is dedicating resources in the fight against Covid-19.

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Apple has released a Covid-19 website and app, which ask questions to screen for Covid-19 symptoms and point the public to resources for information on testing and physical distancing. Both offerings were developed in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the White Houses coronavirus task force, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Apple is also closely monitoring new apps related to Covid-19. Earlier this month, the company updated its developer guidelines to note that only recognized entities such as government organizations, health-focused nongovernmental organizations, medical or educational institutions, or companies deeply credentialed in health issues should submit such apps.

Additionally, Apple is donating 10 million face masks sourced from the companys global supply chains to health care workers around the world.

E-commerce giant Amazon is gearing up to help distribute at-home coronavirus tests in the U.K. The finger-prick tests which U.K. health officials are currently evaluating look for antibodies to the virus to determine if someone has already been infected. That would help give officials an idea of how many people have been ill, as well as who might be able to safely re-enter the workforce.

The move comes against the backdrop of a debacle with at-home coronavirus testing in the U.S. The situation, which unfolded with a handful of health tech startups rolling out at-home test kits and resulted in the Food and Drug Administration nixing those plans, has been on pause while the agency reviews the tests efficacy.

Globally, Amazon is also shifting its warehousing and logistics operations to focus on essential items, including medical supplies and goods for babies and infants. Meanwhile, workers at one of the companys fulfillment centers and its grocery chain Whole Foods went on strike this week to protest working conditions, including a lack of protective gear or access to paid sick leave.

Verily, the life sciences company owned by Alphabet, is providing drive-through coronavirus tests at locations in four California counties. Before coronavirus, the company had kept a low profile compared with search engine giant and parent company Google. But the outbreak has been something of a standout moment for the company, which tested roughly 3,700 people for coronavirus as of March 30.

Meanwhile, Google is donating an estimated 2-3 million face masks to the CDC Foundation. The masks are being produced in partnership with an existing Google partner company.

The search engine is also pledging $250 million in what it calls ad grants, which agencies like the WHO can use to share factual information on how to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Community financial institutions and non-governmental organizations can also use the grants to run public service announcements about relief funds related to the pandemic.

Google is also doling out ad credits and low-interest loans to small businesses suffering in the wake of shelter-in-place policies.

Facebook is donating 720,000 face masks to health workers, which the company has said it stockpiled to prepare for wildfires in California.

The social network is also putting its location data to use in an effort to help track the global spread of the virus. Facebook is sharing aggregated and anonymized smartphone data with researchers at institutions including the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan to help them study peoples movement and social patterns.

Facebook is combating coronavirus misinformation and has said it discusses that work frequently with the WHO, the CDC, and other government organizations. Those efforts havent gone off without a hitch, however. In March, a slew of credible Covid-19 posts from news sources were erroneously flagged as spam and removed. Facebook chalked the problem up to a bug and speedily corrected it.

The CDC used Microsofts customizable health care chatbot to create its own version of the tool that tailors its questions and answers to Covid-19. The software runs on Microsoft Azure, the companys cloud platform, but is owned and maintained by the CDC, which does not share any personal information with the tech company. A handful of health systems are currently using the tool, including Washington-based hospital network Providence St. Joseph and Seattle-based Virginia Mason.

Microsoft also worked with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington to create a series of data visualizations that aim to predict the virus peak in each U.S. state and gauge its strain on health systems. In addition, the company released a free set of academic articles it has begun collecting related to coronavirus research. Microsoft has also expanded a partnership with biotech company Adaptive to study immune responses to Covid-19 on a population level.

Health Tech Correspondent, San Francisco

Erin is a San Francisco-based health-tech reporter, and focuses on Silicon Valley power players.

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Tech companies are stepping up in the coronavirus pandemic response - STAT