Buzzing Wristbands, Online Weddings, and 20 Million Tests
A roundup of stories we’re reading about Covid-19 today
Published in
1 min readApr 20, 2020
- Though we’re all aware of the importance of staying six feet apart, eyeballing the distance isn’t always easy. That’s why a dozen employees at the Ford Motor Co. factory in Plymouth, Michigan, are testing out wristbands that buzz when people get too close, as Bloomberg reports.
- Social distancing has already forced some couples to get married via Zoom, and now New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made it official: A new executive order allows New Yorkers to obtain marriage licenses online and for clerks to perform ceremonies over video conference, reports The Hill.
- The glut of free time that many people are (supposedly) experiencing under self-isolation does not need to be spent on increased productivity, argues Laurie Penny in Wired. In fact, Covid-19 throws our obsession with the “cult of the hustle” into sharp relief: Roommates are discovering that their immediate priority is to cohabitate “without killing each other,” and the “human race as a whole seems to be coming to a similar realization.”
- As nations around the world cautiously prepare to reopen, experts have revealed a plan for how to do so safely in the United States. Doing so is possible, reports MIT Technology Review, but it will require 20 million tests to be done per day, improved contact tracing, and better support for isolated people.
