Handshakes, Contact Tracing, and Getty's Creative Grants

The BBC’s done a piece on future handshakes, and they’ve also shared an informative piece on contact tracing and how it impacts your privacy. Here’s an in-depth review of the government’s app they’ve done as well.

If you’re wondering how you get yourself tested for coronavirus, they’ve put together a resource for that too. Right now I think they’re only doing swab tests (which can only tell if you’re currently infected) but soon they’ll be rolling out antibody tests to more people.

Here’s an update on what’s been going on with the novel coronavirus pandemic:

The Government has updated their page on what you can and can’t do. It’s quite lengthy, but if regularly sit by your sofa wondering  whether or not you can visit your grandparents or shop for scented candles this may be a useful read.

Facebook joins the ranks of Google and Twitter in the work-from-home champion leagues, recently announcing programs to allow more of its workforce to work remotely for the forseeable future. They’ve also announced that they’ll be cutting pay for those who choose this, so it’s a bit of a tough choice for their employees. Is this the end of office life as we know it? The Street goes in depth on the same topic.

The folks at Campaign thinks the whole thing has gone too far with Simon Gwynn sharing various industry leaders’ sentiments on the craze in a piece earlier this week.

More and more people are posting about their successful self-employed grants or bounce back loan scheme applications coming through. Good news for many, but let’s not forget those of us who aren’t currently able to receive much support from the government the #WeAreLtd movement is still going strong. There’s a pretty good guide on Forbes on bounce back loans and business interruption loans and which might be best for you. Kind of wish we got stimulus checks in the mail here like they do in America, but I simultaneously wouldn’t want the country to rack up debt at the same speed they’re doing across the pond!

Getty Images have released details on their “Where We Stand” campaign, with cash grants of up to $2,000 and exclusive opportunities to license content on their platform. Here’s what they’re doing:

At Getty Images, we believe creative people are resilient. During this time of global uncertainty, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a creative outlet is more important than ever before. For some, creativity is relied upon as a means of income, for others it may be used to alleviate stress or as a form of self-expression; whatever the reason, Getty Images want to award 10 creatives with $2,000 USD grants, to help lessen financial stress and bring light to a challenging time. Submissions will be judged by an industry-leading panel of judges, with recipients being awarded for moving , entertaining or ground-breaking creative projects, created while in quarantine.

Find out more on their website.