How can I help others during coronavirus / COVID-19?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: How can I help others during coronavirus / COVID-19?
Position‹2 of 5›: Help your community
Argument‹2 of 4›: Community help in the US

Across the US, hundreds of Mutual Aid groups have popped up to help those in need.

The argument

These are strange times, and some have more capacity to help than others. Many people are unable to leave their house due to age, immunity deficiency or disability. These people may be unable to go to the grocery store or pharmacy, or even simply get incredibly lonely. Through local community groups and initiatives, you can help on a direct, grassroots level. In the US, you can find your local mutual aid group here. Or get stuck in with your community and start your own - instructions can be found here.

Premises

[P1]During COVID-19, vulnerable neighbours such as the elderly and immunocompromised cannot safely leave their homes. [P2] Practical assistance — shopping, prescriptions, a phone call — fills the gap left by formal services. [C] Therefore, helping your community is an effective way to help others during COVID-19.

Counter-arguments

Grassroots help carries real risks during a pandemic that the argument passes over. Well-meaning volunteers moving between households can become vectors of infection, and for the immunocompromised an in-person helper may pose more danger than the errand it solves. Uncoordinated mutual aid can also duplicate or cut across professional and council services. The safest assistance is usually contactless — deliveries left at the door, phone calls, or help routed through vetted organisations — so community help is valuable only when done with precautions, not simply by 'getting stuck in.'

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Informal, in-person help can spread infection to the very people it aims to protect, so it is effective only with safeguards, not unconditionally.