Tim Cook announces Apple will donate to coronavirus relief efforts

Electron micrograph of coronavirus virions

Tim Cook tweeted the morning of January 25, honoring the Chinese New Year and announcing that Apple will donate to those who are helping to support those affected by the coronavirus.

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus, termed "2019-nCoV" for short, is respiratory illness that is not dissimilar to SARS. Symptoms are typically flu-like, with a fever, cough, and shortness of breath present. Like many illnesses, 2019-nCoV is thought to spread from person-to-person via contact with saliva and mucous.

According to the CDC, 2019-nCoV was first detected on December 8, 2019, in Wuhan City, Hubei Province in China, and has been expanding into other areas. In China, there have been 1,300 confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV and 41 fatalities.

Two cases of 2019-nCoV have been discovered in the United States, though it is not thought to be spreading at this time.

Apple had also recently announced they would donate funds to ongoing relief efforts in Australia, where a dangerous combination of record temperatures, high winds and drought over the past two months set the stage for dozens of devastating bushfires. Cook did not specify how Apple will contribute, though the company has in the past donated funds to local non-profits and emergency service organizations during similar situations.

Apple commonly responds to catastrophes and natural disasters with financial aid. In 2018 the company provided $1 million contributions for victims of the Kerala floods in India, relief efforts following the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and Red Cross activity after the California wild fires and Hurricane Florence. Apple last donated to an emergency relief effort during this year's bout of California wild fires in October.