The COVID-19 pandemic marks a devastating period for people, businesses, and economies around the globe. The 2019 novel coronavirus is indiscriminate as it infects anyone who is exposed, endangering the lives of many. Most eventually recover from their ordeal, while a few eventually succumb to the disease. Amid all the negativity brought about by the health crisis are a few bright spots. One of the more recent ones includes a $20 million donation from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to the Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE).

The latter is an organisation founded by renowned actor Sean Penn that provides assistance during disasters. As the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak continues to rise across the United States, the group hopes to help in any way they can. Many are calling the sizeable donation "unprecedented" and brings the total number of contributions made by the social media platform executive up to $30 million, reports Fox News.

In an interview with CORE co-founder and CEO Ann Lee, she pointed out that the $20 million donation from Dorsey was able to provide enough for all 38 coronavirus testing sites spread across the US. She describes it as on "a scale that was exponentially greater than what we hoped for." Those who are familiar with the team's previous work know that they were there for the people of Haiti in 2010 after a devastating earthquake hit the country.

CORE's testing locations are normally set up close to low-income and high-risk communities. They also extend assistance to essential workers and first responders that might need it. However, Lee revealed that the overhead costs of one of its COVID-19 testing sites should be anywhere between $650,000 to $1 million in a month. As such, analysts point out that the pandemic can be controlled as long as the government, healthcare groups, and people cooperate.

Jack Dorsey
Jack Dorsey, CEO and co-founder of Twitter and founder and CEO of Square, speaks at the Consensus 2018 blockchain technology conference in New York City, New York, U.S., May 16, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Penn stated: "No matter what governments do, or do not do, one individual and one company among multibillion-dollar revenues can pay it forward to the greater good," Penn said. "What should alarm the public is that Dorsey and #startsmall are virtually alone in that commitment," he added. In April, Dorsey announced that he was allocating $1 billion – a little over 25 percent of his wealth – to help fight against COVID-19 globally.

COVID-19 Twitter