With COVID-19 spreading around the world since the end of last year, businesses are taking different measures to overcome the epidemic. While some inevitably had to close down, others are still open, trying to contribute to the efforts to ease the situation. 

Restaurants Lazy Dog and Pineapple Thai, both located in Main Street Cupertino have been providing meals for a wide variety of people, ranging from seniors and health care workers. 

“I’m from a big family and there was a  time in my life that my family struggled, so  I understand the difficulty in providing for family. It makes a difference to not have to worry about putting food on the table.” said Thalia Swangchaeng, owner of Pineapple Thai. 

Pineapple Thai and Lazy Dog have worked with the Fremont Union High School District to provide 550 meals each for students and children. 

Said Swangchaeng, “I was glued to the news [about COVID-19] and followed the situation closely. I saw how difficult it was for the front line workers: the lack of rest time they had, and just simply wanted to help. The community has been hit in all different ways, not just the front line workers. The longer the quarantine continues the more help the community will need.” 

On the other hand, not all businesses have stayed open in response to COVID-19. On March 13th, Apple posted a statement on its homepage that the corporation is closing all its retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27th, a date which has now been postponed indefinitely. 

In addition, Apple has made donations worldwide to help those who are in need. The corporation also has collaborated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in order to release a new COVID-19 app and website. The app and website contains a screening tool asks questions to identify early symptoms if COVID-19, as well as sets of resources for people to be easily aware of their health. 

Moreover, on April 10th Apple and Google announced their  partnership in order to create a COVID-19 tracing app for iOS and Android, which is scheduled to be released in May. The app will function to trace signs of human contact by alerting users if they have been exposed to the virus to minimize the spread of the virus. However, since the announcement it raised questions about the privacy of the app. 

Although the situation of COVID-19 may be devastating in many cases, many businesses have been fighting and will fight against the virus for the benefit of the community. The future lies unknown, but surely these efforts made will come to fruition.