What can programmers do to help with the coronavirus?

Realize this is a non-technical problem that won't be solved by an App with location tracking and ad-based monetization model...

Follow the CDC advice, wash your hands, social distancing, encouraging smart policies at your company. Avoid contact with the elderly and stop thinking you're so smart surely YOU'RE the one who's going to solve this problem (with your magical skillset to build CRUD apps).

- Increased demand for food-at-home combined with reduced traffic on the roads => sign up as a bicycle courier?

- Social isolation of the elderly => provide TV/media installation help?

- More spare time => relax, do a bit more reading, look at some software projects you use and try to fix a random bug or two?

- Risks to public health and healthcare => become well-informed, be on the look out for misinformation online, and try to stay optimistic and good-natured to help everyone through it

Although there's always a big temptation to hack on something huge and world-changing (a new social platform, building healthcare equipment) -- it could be more realistic to step back and do some smaller things in your community, especially if they already know what help they need and are asking for assistance.

If you’re eating out or getting food delivered by a courier, tip extra if you can.

Food service workers are exposed to many more people and typically lack the salary/benefits programmers get. If they get infected by the virus or laid off from economic slowdown the extra money will help them the most.

Using tech skills specifically? Not a lot comes to mind right this minute. Maybe if you're a licensed ham radio operator, join ARES[1] or RACES[2].

Outside of that, one way to help very directly, depending on where you live, is to join a volunteer fire department / EMS squad. But not all areas are covered by volunteer departments, and there's a lot of latency in terms of training time to do a lot of things (eg, you can't just become an EMT overnight). But there are always people needed around the station to do maintenance on equipment, clean, help with paperwork, etc.

[1]: http://www.arrl.org/ares

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Amateur_Civil_Emergency_...

With so many people in lockdown, the extent to which we depend on the internet has probably never been so large, so the last thing we need is a global internet outage. A wormable vulnerability spreading through operating systems, web servers or web frameworks (to name a few) could put a serious strain on society, to put it lightly. Also less complex attacks like denial-of-service vectors in major internet software could have debilitating effects right now if targeted against critical institutions like hospitals.

Everyone who can write code can read code and find bugs. The projects that are in scope for the Google patch rewards program are a good starting point: https://www.google.com/about/appsecurity/patch-rewards/

It has also been suggested to me that some elderly/disadvantaged folks don't have devices/Internet connectivity/tech savvy in order to be able to do remote anything. (some grandmas still attend religious services or community groups in person because they can't or don't know how to do it online)

Ideally their kids or caregivers could help with this, but not everyone is tech savvy. There could be an opportunity here -- matching tech-savvy folks with these folks. The trick is how to do it without personal contact.

While I'm fully agree with the "this isn't a tech problem" comment, there are indirect ways that people can help.

I think the biggest problems many are going to face aren't related to the illness itself, but the effects of self-isolation and the outcomes, such as:

* Dealing with your loved ones getting sick or dying - online services to talk to others that are suffering or going through tough times would be good.

* Boredom - putting that "empty time" to good use by building your skills.

* Loneliness - providing a platform to utilise existing or new social networks to make people feel that they aren't alone.

* Volunteering - one of the biggest hit areas is going to be in elderly care, and to be honest it wouldn't be unsurprising to see care homes shut down and relatives being left to look after their relatives. Anything that can help people in these situations would be welcomed, whether it's supplies, stuff for people to do, etc.

* Aiding remote workers. For many, remote working is an alien concept, so if you've got experience in working from home in an optimal way create an in-depth guide to help others.

* Small gym relief funds - many gyms or martial arts schools have shut down, and many practitioners rely on teaching as their sole form of income. Building a relief fund for those small businesses would help tremendously, on the basis that it can be "paid forward" in the future through private lessons, online instructionals, etc.

Maybe not programmers alone, but programmers working together with business/finance/economics folks:

How do we help small businesses weather this?

Gift cards have been suggested, and they work for some scalable businesses, but not non-scalable ones with finite capacity. Barbershops for instance have a finite number of appointment slots, so when people redeem their gift cards in the future, they lose future income.

The question is: how do we creatively come up with a form of an business/economic model that will help consumers help small businesses stay afloat and sustainably ramp back up in the future?

In a week or two. There will be a great need for volunteers when medical personal have fallen ill themselves or are breaking down. Tolls to help organize those volunteers could help put a lot.

Mutual aid is going to be crucial especially here in America where the government has so fundamentally f*ed up. I'm currently thinking of ways to make tools to help organize and facilitate the various kinds of aid we're going to need, I'd love to hear people's suggestions

We need an app that tracks any nearby (few meters) MAC address it encounters and stores it on device. When someone finds out they are infected , they post their address to a database online. People can check in every day to see if they have been nearby the phone of an infected person

I am with other people that your magical skills aren’t going to wish the virus away. Listen to medical professionals and practice social distancing. If you want a related project, maybe crate a robot that allows you to further practice social distancing.

Create fun things for people to do online from home so that they stay home and reduce spread

I've been thinking of volunteering my consulting services at a local lab or hospital. But I'm not sure how to go about it even. Once Monday rolls in I'll try to make some calls.

(If anyone knows a place in need, feel free to email me. Brussels, BE)

i just posted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22585852 with app idea we hackers could get live asap

Bild software that helps (especially elderly) people avoid loneliness.

Clean their keyboards with alcohol-based wipes!

Keep a distance of 5 parsecs minimum from your favourite holy cows in computer science definitely would help. I understand that is difficult not jumping over they at sight, but some are fragile (some are even valuable).

On the other hand, maybe your old computer science teacher would appreciate a few kind words and some remote conversation online.

> "Due to Covid-19, the talks in Spain will not occur on the dates previously planned"

Rresspuista correcta, Señor Bond...

Please take the time to reach out to local CS clubs and provide mentoring.

Nothing - tell people close to you to wash your hands, and chill at home as much as possible. You can't nodejs your way out of this.

Design 3D printed respirators?