Coronavirus hits tech economy; life under lockdown; a poem for our new era

Here’s what we’re talking about this week on the GeekWire Podcast.

Seattle’s latest week under the cloud of the coronavirus began with Gov. Jay Inslee’s long-expected shelter-at-home announcement. It requires all but essential workers to stay at home and limits what everyone else can do outside of home.

We also take a look at how Seattle’s big tech firms are responding to the COVID-19 crisis. Many are laying off staff and cutting expenses, while some, like Amazon, find their business is booming.

And we offer our own reading of the Walt Whitman poem that Gov. Inslee quoted when he announced the stay-at-home order.

Continue reading for highlights.

Gov. Jay Inslee announces a long-expected stay-at-home order. Bill Gates says the U.S. acted too slowly on confronting the coronavirus and missed its chance to avoid mandatory stay-at-home orders. Workers test positive at 14 Amazon warehouses around the country. Congress passes a $2 trillion aid bill that includes benefits that might help Boeing. U.S. workers file a record 3.28 million new claims for jobless benefits last week. Data from mobile apps, search engines and smart thermometers show testing and social distancing are the best short-term strategies to contain the virus. Several Seattle tech firms, such as Leafly, Compass, Textio and more, laid off workers.

Follow our live blog for up-to-date news: Coronavirus Live Updates: The latest COVID-19 developments in Seattle and the world of tech

More from the podcast: We take a deep dive into how Seattle tech firms are responding to the crisis, and how it might impact them in the future.

Internal memo: Jeff Bezos tells Amazon employees he’s ‘wholly focused’ on the COVID-19 crisis Redfin’s coronavirus response: CEO forgoes salary for 2020; agent base pay increases; and more Rich Barton lays out Zillow’s coronavirus playbook: Freeze hiring; cut expenses; pause home-buying Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says tech giant ‘will weather the storm’ amid COVID-19 outbreak ‘America needs our help’: Q&A with OfferUp CEO Nick Huzar after Seattle-area startup lands $120M

Governor Inslee read some lines from a poem by Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself, 33,” when he announced his stay-at-home order on Monday. We read a longer excerpt from the poem and discuss.

With GeekWire’s Todd Bishop, Taylor Soper and Monica Nickelsburg. Our podcast producer is Curt Milton. Our theme music is by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.