In 2003, with the last big similar outbreak (SARS, also a coronavirus), the tech tools for remote communication and collaboration were in their early days. There was no Facebook, no Twitter, no Slack and, perhaps most important, no iPhone (and therefore no apps).

There were laptops and more basic mobile phones back then. But working, being entertained and shopping from home were still difficult and rare. And even though more companies now allow employees to work from home, and more employees are taking advantage of that opportunity, the idea that workers need to be present at one office location in their analog bodies has remained quite persistent.

This is despite the obvious and sometimes dispiriting trend toward living in a fully digital world. Along with the isolation and separation it brings, digital life has resulted in more social and political polarization for many people. In a recent interview about his book, “Why We’re Polarized,” the journalist Ezra Klein noted that social media “has been a polarization accelerant. In the coming years it may prove a primary driver.”

That’s become abundantly clear. But can tech also prove to be a positive force in this health crisis, rather than the relentless drag it has become? That idea was certainly pushed this week by Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as she tried to outline what to expect as the coronavirus spreads in the United States.

While she warned of the need to prepare for a “significant disruption of our lives,” Dr. Messonnier used words like teleworking and teleschooling to describe what might have to happen in the worst-case scenario.

It’s too early to know if we need to resort to this kind of behavior on a widespread and prolonged level, but it will be instructive to see how well business and other analog activities can continue to operate in a digital world during a crisis.

Will there be robust teleconferences to replace the real-life ones that are canceled? On Thursday, Facebook canceled its annual developer conference, scheduled for May, due to fears over the virus. Will Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, instead broadcast a presentation on Facebook Live?