Ask HN: Can we build an open source platform that helps COVID-19 patients?

A "hackathon" has a short time horizon. At the end of the hackathon you'd have some idea as to whether or not you'd want to continue, regardless of whether the goals of the hackathon had been achieved. Give people a chance to try out contributing in small amounts, and to evaluate whether they want to continue contributing.

- Now: there's an immediate need for a single source of truth for all the locations where COVID-19 testing is available. Trump recently said that Google was working on it, but it turns out not to be the case (they are weeks away from an MVP that would only cover the SF Bay Area). I propose we start by solving this problem.

- Next: What is the scope of COVID-19 infection? Today, the CDC doesn't have an accurate count of the # of COVID-19 tests that have been performed because they don't have a way to collect that info from the growing number of labs that are performing the tests. Moreover, there's no way for anybody to know how many people have actually been tested, because the same person can be tested multiple times. We could solve this problem by crowdsourcing that information directly from individuals.

- Next +1: We need to know where the sickest people are right now, and predict where they could be in the near future. This is crucial information for healthcare providers (like me) and public health officials alike. Without this information in hand, it's virtually impossible to know where to direct resources (like doctors, nurses, ventilators, medical supplies, testing equipment, etc.). We need to be able to track demand AND supply in real-time --> this is the point at which the project starts shaping itself into an Uber-like platform.

- Next +2: Enable individuals to post offers to help and for others to request assistance. This would enable individuals with medical training to help meet the need. It would also enable everyone to help in other ways, like delivering food for the elderly.