__Wait, he said what?...__ __[Alphabet](https://robinhood.com/stocks/GOOGL)__'s [reaction](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/16/alphabet-verily-coronavirus-screening-website-is-overloaded.html) to Friday's press conference when President Trump talked up [Project Baseline](https://www.projectbaseline.com/study/covid-19/), Google's initiative to point people who are COVID-19-worried in the right direction. With the President's public support and the Google parent's huge tech and financial resources, Project Baseline could be big for diagnosing COVID-19:

- __The company:__ __Verily__ is Alphabet's life sciences "Other Bet." It was created in Google's X Lab as a moonshot/save-the-world project. Now, it gets its big moment.
- __The goal:__ Screen people for COVID-19 by asking about symptoms, then pointing them in the right direction. If one user says "I have a belly ache," Project Baseline says it's not COVID-19. If another says "I have a fever and cough," it might suggest a local testing facility.
- __The catch:__ You need to login with a Google account and agree to share your data. 
- __BTW:__ This only launched for the Bay Area yesterday — they'll need to  [increase capacity](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/technology/coronavirus-testing-website-google.html) before expanding (not taking more appointments for now).

__In South Korea and China, the authorities have apps tracking infected people...__ Verily isn't proposing that, but it insists on being able to share your data with authorities. *Claaaassic* Privacy vs. Security tradeoff. Giving Google your health data may seem scary, but letting COVID-19 spread is scarier.

Track

__This could be Google's opportunity to get into healthcare...__ America's personal health data literally sits in paper files in filing cabinets. That's painful for Google to see after indexing the entire internet. Project Baseline is Google's moment to capture health records on millions of Americans. And it's made other major health-data moves lately:

- __Google acquired Fitbit for $2.1B__ to get your pulse while you're running.
- __And Google invested in One Medical__, the tech-forward healthcare chain that looks more like an Equinox gym than a doctor's office.

Google launches a Trump-endorsed COVID-19 screening website

__"FTC" is becoming a solidarity slogan...__ Before mandated government shutdowns, American companies and citizens independently took initiatives to "[flatten the curve](https://www.vox.com/2020/3/10/21171481/coronavirus-us-cases-quarantine-cancellation)" of the COVID-19 outbreak — aka, reduce the number of infections so that our healthcare capacity can handle them. Most countries are taking the FTC approach: 

- __Pros:__ Social distancing and closures mean fewer infections, fewer deaths, and healthcare systems *not* overwhelmed by a dramatic spike in cases. 
- __Cons:__ The economy is devastated by biz slowdowns, the peak of the outbreak happens *later* (and dies down later), and could repeat if widespread immunity isn't developed. 
- __Bottom Line:__ The opposite approach is "[herd immunity](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-pandemic-herd-immunity-uk-boris-johnson/608065/)" — allowing for a large part of the population to be infected — which risks disastrous consequences for the elderly and people with compromised health. So...

__The grassroots spirit takes hold...__ *“The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens”* — Tocqueville said it, and American individuals/companies are still practicing it, decidedly acting to make flattening the curve possible:

- __Social Distancing:__ WFH has become the norm and social media is rife with self-imposed "stay home" content — risk being "social shamed" for posting a story at a bar.
- __Corporate Closures:__ __[Nike](https://robinhood.com/stocks/NKE)__, __[Lululemon](https://robinhood.com/stocks/LULU)__, __[Apple](https://robinhood.com/stocks/AAPL)__, __[Vail Resorts](https://robinhood.com/stocks/MTN)__, and other companies closed their businesses from the public before the government mandated them to do so — and __[Starbucks](https://robinhood.com/stocks/sbux)__ went takeout-only nationwide before NYC required it.


_The 3 stages of social distancing_

Protect

__FTC has us walking a very fine line...__ Small/medium sized businesses and hourly wage workers are majorly hurt in this FTC economy — no foot traffic = no sales = no work for hourly workers. [Private companies](https://abcnews.go.com/Business/companies-protect-vulnerable-hourly-workers-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/story?id=69555759) have implemented ways to soften the blow and provide relief for those who *can't afford to stay home* when they don't feel well or when their bosses tell them to:

- __[Grubhub](https://robinhood.com/stocks/GRUB)__ waived [commission fees](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/grubhub-waives-commission-fees-restaurants) (which can be as much as 30%) for many mom & pop restaurants that are suffering right now.
- __[Darden Restaurants](https://robinhood.com/stocks/DRI)__ is providing paid sick leave for all its hourly workers who weren't covered.
- __[Starbucks](https://robinhood.com/stocks/SBUX)__ announced a financial support solution for any US baristas who may have been exposed to the virus — __[Lyft](https://robinhood.com/stocks/LYFT)__ is also doing this for drivers.

The FTC Economy (“Flatten The Curve”) is led by private biz in a big way

__Like a slasher film...__ But with interest rates. The Fed's yanked out all the stops in its financial medicine arsenal. On March 3, the nation's central bank doled out the first [emergency rate cut](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/4AwsSxWJqQcb7mwqnA5uyv/articles/6o35WJ1AbtsqVtjvTzwoip/) since the '08 financial crisis. On Sunday, it cut interest rates to [near 0%](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/15/federal-reserve-cuts-rates-to-zero-and-launches-massive-700-billion-quantitative-easing-program.html) and announced it's dropping $700B on long-term bonds. Here's what the Fed wants:

- __Interest rates to fall:__ So that you'll spend on stocks/stuff and take out loans rather than hoarding your money in an interest-bearing savings account, bonds, or under mattresses.... So it lowered rates to almost 0%. 
- __More money to flow:__ So that banks have enough to give/lend to you (so that you can spend).... So it's dropping $700B to buy Treasury and mortgage-backed securities, which flushes the financial system with more freshly printed cash for banks. 
- __More cash__ = *less demand for cash* = lower interest rates to borrow cash = more loans. That last one could save struggling companies and help kickstart an economic recovery. 

__But the Fed is fighting a different beast...__ The COVID-19 pandemic. It's trying to prevent the virus from causing a financial crisis — but investors are looking for *medical* solutions, not *monetary* ones.

__There's only so much the Fed can do...__ And it's already done it. With all these drastic measures, the Fed has run out of rockets in its economic bazooka. Now it's up to Congress and the White House to help with changes in taxes and spending to help the consumers and small businesses seriously squeezed by the econ shutdown. This might include government [bailouts](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/2N4J8I3LVoH4TJ41Xmtvys/articles/3lDtbIu8ObEgNzjo0WqhvE/) for struggling industries (reportedly, [airlines](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/16/coronavirus-stimulus-white-house-grapples-with-which-industries-deserve-aid.html) could be first).

Google launches a Trump-endorsed COVID-19 screening website

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