‘Most unusual and difficult year of my life’: Personal and pandemic struggles aside, Bill Gates is hopeful Ever the optimist, even Bill Gates was challenged by everything 2021 threw at him. In a new end-of-the-year post on… Read More
Highlights from comedian Trevor Noah interviewing Fred Hutch COVID-19 researcher Trevor Bedford Trevor, meet Trevor. Trevor Noah, “The Daily Show” host and South African comedian, came through Seattle last week on tour… Read More
COVID-19 experts answer questions about Omicron — and where the variant may have come from There’s not a lot known about the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, but what scientists see so far has them on… Read More
Podcast What we’re most thankful for in tech, science, business, and innovation This was a week when many of us in the U.S. paused to reflect and give thanks. We’re keeping the… Read More
With mandate in effect, CLEAR app gets official OK in Seattle area as vaccine verification method As the new Public Health – Seattle & King County policy requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter certain businesses… Read More
New survey finds employee and HR disconnect on some remote work issues and vaccine mandates A new survey of workers and human resources leaders sheds light on attitudes related to changing work environments, including such… Read More
Gates Foundation commits up to $120M to support access to new COVID-19 pill The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide up to $120 million to help lower-income countries access a new pill… Read More
Misinformation and vaccines: How public health messaging and experts can help curb distrust When Howard Frumkin first started inviting speakers for a meeting held last week on the effects of the pandemic, he… Read More
Fred Hutch’s Trevor Bedford receives ‘genius grant’ for work on COVID and other viruses In the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as we desperately flailed for reliable information to comprehend what had previously… Read More
Economists describe how the pandemic magnifies trends such as remote work and movement patterns Economic shocks such as the pandemic accelerate existing societal trends. That was a recurring theme among economists and urban planners… Read More
Amazon Web Services launches $40M initiative that aims to reduce health inequities Amazon Web Services will provide $40 million in credits and technical support over three years for organizations working to enhance… Read More
How disparities for women and minorities widened during the pandemic The pandemic has hastened already-existing economic trends, such as the increase in remote work. But at the same time, it… Read More
Public mural installation in Seattle, backed by Facebook, promotes COVID vaccine participation A new art project being unveiled in Seattle today is part of an effort by Facebook and others to promote… Read More
T-Mobile US is ‘highly encouraging’ employees to get vaccinated and start working in the office again As many of its corporate brethren leave their timelines for returning to the office open-ended, or push things back to… Read More
RealNetworks releases its first hardware product, a kiosk that checks for proper facemask usage From its early days as a streaming audio pioneer to its recent expansion into facial recognition technology, RealNetworks has focused… Read More
Bill Gates calls inequitable worldwide access to COVID-19 vaccines a ‘public health tragedy’ As people in the United States debate COVID-19 vaccine mandates, a new report from the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates… Read More
Rep. Adam Schiff rips Amazon and Facebook for ‘directly profiting’ on COVID-19 misinformation Rep. Adam Schiff, in separate letters to bosses of tech giants Amazon and Facebook, criticized the efforts of both companies… Read More
Study of Microsoft employees shows how remote work puts productivity and innovation at risk A new study finds that Microsoft’s companywide shift to remote work has hurt communication and collaboration among different business groups… Read More
Microsoft nixes Oct. 4 return to office in latest rollback from COVID-19 Delta variant Microsoft says it no longer considers early October a realistic timeframe for fully opening its U.S. offices, and it won’t… Read More
Sen. Elizabeth Warren concerned that Amazon is ‘peddling misinformation’ about COVID-19 In a six-page letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Sen. Elizabeth Warren expressed concerns that the “search and ‘Best Seller’… Read More
Diagnostics startup ID Genomics snags NIH grant to develop rapid test for COVID-19 variants Diagnostics startup ID Genomics will accelerate its development of a quick test for variants of the COVID-19 virus with a… Read More
Facebook focuses on ‘data, not dates’ as it, too, pushes office return to January 2022 A new day, another new year return-to-office plan. Facebook joined the growing list of companies that are pushing back the… Read More
Expedia Group pushes back its full return to the office to January 2022 This is starting to look like a trend: Expedia Group, the Seattle-based online travel giant, has told employees that it’s… Read More
Report: Amazon offering $2M in cash and prizes in lottery for vaccinated frontline workers In a bid to incentivize more frontline workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, Amazon is offering a lottery of cash… Read More
Amid COVID surge, Amazon to require masks for warehouse workers regardless of vaccination status A day after pushing back the return to an in-person setting for its office workers to the new year, Amazon… Read More
Amazon delays office return to January 2022 as rise of Delta variant thwarts corporate plans Amazon told employees Thursday that it will delay its timeline for returning to regular work in the office until early… Read More
Podcast This is Amazon’s at-home COVID-19 test kit: We tried it and talked to a testing expert about it Amazon launched an at-home COVID-19 test kit for U.S. consumers last month, broadening the options for people to get tested… Read More
Microsoft to require proof of vaccination for U.S. on-site work, delays full reopening to October Microsoft says it will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for all employees, vendors and guests entering its U.S. buildings starting… Read More
Veteran software engineer launches AI startup Hal9 while battling long COVID and pandemic concerns Is there ever really a good time to launch a startup? That’s the question Javier Luraschi was asking and sort… Read More
‘We’ve been instrumental’: How Seattle became a hub for COVID-19 vaccine research When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, University of Washington scientist Deborah Fuller did a quick pivot to the new virus. Her… Read More
