Monday, March 9, 2020

Santa Clara County Bans All Gatherings of 1000+ People After Coronavirus Death

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The County of Santa Clara's Public Health Department today issued a mandatory order that requires all mass gatherings of 1,000 or more people in Santa Clara County to be canceled.


Santa Clara County includes cities like Cupertino, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and San Jose, and it is the county where Apple's two main campuses are located along with many of its satellite offices.

Last week, county officials issued guidelines suggesting that companies in the area minimize or cancel large in-person meetings and conferences, but the new ban is a requirement that will prevent any major gatherings.

The ban takes effect at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 11 and for now, will last for three weeks. Santa Clara County is putting the ban in place as it waits for more widespread testing and for more details on how COVID-19 spreads.
"This is a critical moment in the growing outbreak of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County. The strong measures we are taking today are designed to slow the spread of disease," said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer. "Today's order and new recommendations will reduce the number of people who develop severe illness and will help prevent our healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed. This is critically important for anyone with healthcare needs, not just those most vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19."
The three-week ban will only last until the beginning of April, but ahead of when the mandatory ban was in place, tech companies had already started canceling events. Both Facebook and Google have canceled planned developer events set to take place in May that would have had around 5,000 attendees.

Apple still has not made any announcements about WWDC, which is typically held in June at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, and the length of this ban will not affect June plans, but with the growing number of coronavirus cases in the county, Apple may cancel the event as a precaution.

Apple could still provide WWDC content in a digital format with online presentations for media and developers, but it's not entirely clear what the company's plan is at this time. We should be hearing soon, as Apple normally announces WWDC info right around this time in March.

The county's decision to blanket ban all events of 1,000 or more people comes as Santa Clara County experienced its first death due to the coronavirus. Santa Clara County has a total of 43 known COVID-19 cases, with more in other counties in the Bay Area.
Related Roundup: WWDC 2020

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Apple Developing Fitness App for iOS 14 That Lets You Download Guided Workout Videos

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Apple appears to be working on a new fitness app for iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple TV that is designed to let users download guided fitness-related videos that will walk them through various workouts.

Icons representing some of the exercises that will be available in the fitness app

The app, which is codenamed "Seymour," may be named Fit or Fitness when it is released. Apple appears to be aiming to release the app in iOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14, and it seems to be a standalone app that will be available alongside the existing Activity app.

With the fitness app, users may be able to download fitness videos that cover a range of different workout options and activities, getting guidance on completing those activities on the Apple Watch. Apple provides a gallery of different workout routines that can be downloaded and synced to the Apple Watch, with the videos themselves shown on the iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.

The Apple Watch appears to be used to track your progress through each workout routine, similar to how the Apple Watch can track existing fitness activities through the Activity app.

Apple appears to be providing the workouts through its fitness app for free, as there are no in-app purchases or costs associated with the content at this time.

It looks like Apple is working on a wide variety of activity types, including indoor running, cycling, rowing, stretching, core training, strength training, outdoor walking, dance, and yoga.

While Apple seems to be working on these features for the next software updates expected this fall, there is no guarantee that this functionality will make it into the finalized versions of iOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14.

We're going to be sharing a lot more details on new features that are coming to iOS 14 and Apple's other software updates in the coming days, so stay tuned to MacRumors for more.
Related Roundup: iOS 14

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