Linked List: March 14, 2020

Saturday, 14 March 2020

Apple Developer News:

The App Store should always be a safe and trusted place for users to download apps. Now more than ever that commitment takes on special significance as the world fights the COVID-19 pandemic. Communities around the world are depending on apps to be credible news sources — helping users understand the latest health innovations, find out where they can get help if needed or provide assistance to their neighbors.

To help fulfill these expectations, we’re evaluating apps critically to ensure data sources are reputable and that developers presenting these apps are from recognized entities such as government organizations, health-focused NGOs, companies deeply credentialed in health issues, and medical or educational institutions. Only developers from one of these recognized entities should submit an app related to COVID-19. Entertainment or game apps with COVID-19 as their theme will not be allowed.

Misinformation (well-intentioned or not), scams, just plain noise — we don’t need any of that in this crisis. The only downside to this policy I can think of is that potentially useful apps from non-credentialed developers aren’t going to get through. Good on Apple for making this policy explicit, so that such developers can focus their efforts on building web apps, or collaborating with an organization that has the necessary credentials.

CDC: Water Temperature Doesn’t Matter When Washing Your Hands 

From the Center for Disease Control’s “Show Me the Science — How to Wash Your Hands”:

Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.

Why? Because hands could become recontaminated if placed in a basin of standing water that has been contaminated through previous use, clean running water should be used. However, washing with non-potable water when necessary may still improve health. The temperature of the water does not appear to affect microbe removal; however, warmer water may cause more skin irritation and is more environmentally costly.

Turning off the faucet after wetting hands saves water, and there are few data to prove whether significant numbers of germs are transferred between hands and the faucet.

I’ve always washed my hands with water as hot as I can take it. (Well, that’s not quite true — but when I’ve used cold or cool water because the hot water was taking too long, I’ve felt guilty about it.) It’s just mind-blowing to me that the recipe is just soap and clean water of any temperature.

The CDC’s cited references:

Social Distancing: The Key Thing We Can Do to ‘Flatten the Curve’ of COVID-19 

Paul Kafasis, writing at the Rogue Amoeba blog:

At its most basic, social distancing is a deliberate effort to reduce your contact with others. Doing so will slow or prevent community transmission of COVID-19, by decreasing the number of opportunities the virus has to spread.

You can practice social distancing in many ways. For those in the tech sector, working from home is a hugely powerful step you may be able to take. Rogue Amoeba’s employees use home offices around the globe, but if that weren’t the case, we’d be mandating working from home now.

It’s not possible for everyone to work from home, but there are still plenty of other changes you can implement. Avoid attending group gatherings. Reduce the amount you leave the house. If you do go out, maintain physical distance from others as best you can.

As Paul notes, there’s not much we can do individually, but doing what we can — particularly social distancing and frequent hand-washing — is both good for us collectively and at an individual level reduces that feeling of helplessness.

Apple Has Closed All Retail Stores Outside China 

Tim Cook, detailing Apple’s COVID-19 response on Apple Newsroom:

We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27. We are committed to providing exceptional service to our customers. Our online stores are open at www.apple.com, or you can download the Apple Store app on the App Store. For service and support, customers can visit support.apple.com. I want to thank our extraordinary Retail teams for their dedication to enriching our customers’ lives. We are all so grateful to you.

I walked by our Walnut Street store here in Philly about an hour ago, and the store was already closed. A handful of customers and employees remained inside, and there was a short queue outside to assist people with getting technical support online or via the phone. (Which immediately made me wonder if Apple’s online and phone support staff are able to work remotely. Update: Apparently many or most of them are able to work remotely.)

After yesterday’s announcement regarding WWDC, a few DF readers emailed to suggest (some rather strongly) that Apple ought to close its stores, pointing out the obvious: that, in addition to the general principle of social distancing, Apple Stores in particular are problematic for a virus that spreads by touch. The whole point of the stores is to come in and play with iPhones and iPads, type on MacBooks, and so forth. Apple certainly could have kept the stores open without demo hardware for customers to touch, but closing seems like the right thing to do.

My other thought: when I read “until March 27”, I immediately thought “you mean at least until March 27”. A few weeks seemingly did the trick in China, but we have no idea if that will hold true everywhere else. Same goes for everything else that has closed, from schools to sports. Everyone is saying “two weeks” or “through the end of March” but at this point I think that’s very optimistic.

Cook:

In all of our offices, we are moving to flexible work arrangements worldwide outside of Greater China. That means team members should work remotely if their job allows, and those whose work requires them to be on site should follow guidance to maximize interpersonal space. Extensive, deep cleaning will continue at all sites. In all our offices, we are rolling out new health screenings and temperature checks.

All of our hourly workers will continue to receive pay in alignment with business as usual operations. We have expanded our leave policies to accommodate personal or family health circumstances created by COVID-19 — including recovering from an illness, caring for a sick loved one, mandatory quarantining, or childcare challenges due to school closures.

All good, and at this point I’m not sure Apple really had a choice. Schools are closed all over the U.S., including San Francisco (and Philadelphia).