© Global Look / Andrei SolokowA question we will all be asking ourselves soon enough.
Amazon's Alexa AI assistant can now evaluate coronavirus symptoms and recommend testing for US users - testing it profits from and hopes to roll out nationwide. Will it report 'dry coughs' to the proper authorities, too?
'Doctor' Alexa is making house calls, Amazon has revealed, boasting its voice assistant now allows users to check their "
risk level" for coronavirus in a blog
post on Thursday. Users concerned they might have the virus can confide in Alexa, who will inquire about symptoms, travel history, and other routes of possible exposure before making recommendations based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control.
This innovation would be less unsettling if Amazon didn't have a massive financial interest in keeping the coronavirus panic and pandemic going as long as possible. Government-mandated shutdowns of "
nonessential businesses" have triggered soaring demand for its e-commerce services as brick-and-mortar shops are forced to close their doors, and customers are far less likely to venture out even to the supermarket if their virtual assistant is telling them they might have coronavirus.
Comment: Residents of New York, New Jersey & Connecticut are now being urged to avoid all non-essential travel for the next 14 days. The coronavirus death toll has reportedly doubled in 2 days in the US, and the first baby in the US has died after being diagnosed with COVID-19, although it is not conclusive that coronavirus is what caused the infant's death. Students attending some of the most expensive universities in the US are trying to get their money back since classes are canceled, but the elites who run these schools don't seem to understand, or care about, the urgency of the situation. One school administrator responded to an email requesting a refund with an embedded video of her doing interpretative dance. Out of touch much?
Italy announced that their death toll passed 10,000. The death toll in New York increased by 209 on Saturday as people infected with the virus rose to 52,318. The state's presidential primary was also pushed back until June. Hospitals in New York are starting to become overwhelmed as there is a death every 17 minutes in New York City. New York City Public Hospital Doctor Steve Kassapidis even went so far as to say what was happening in the city was "hell on earth." Over 500 members of the NYPD have tested positive for COVID-19.
In an "unprecedented" move South Africa has entered into a martial law-style lockdown for three weeks starting on Friday. The lockdown of South Africa is the first time the government has stripped the basic freedoms of its citizens since it became a democracy in 1994. The sale of alcohol and cigarettes has been banned for three weeks, along with any outdoor activity such as jogging, walking dogs, and or going to the park. The government warned that offenders would be prosecuted and either fined or jailed. Conor McGregor has called for a similar lockdown in Ireland.