Google Rubbishes Reports Of Developing Coronavirus Website
Coronavirus is rapidly spreading across continents and more people are succumbing to the virus. Worse, in many situations, identifying and confirming the symptoms of the coronavirus has become quite a herculean task. President Trump noted that Google would develop a website to help identify cases, but that seems to be another misinformation.
Contrary to most reports, Google isn’t building a website dedicated to self-check coronavirus. US President Trump had earlier noted that the US government and Google are joining hands to develop a website regarding coronavirus in the face of the pandemic. Instead, a much smaller website has been created by another division of Alphabet. Currently, the website will be able to direct people to testing facilities in the Bay Area alone. A statement from Verily, another company under Alphabet’s umbrella issued a statement an hour after Trump’s press release.
“We are developing a tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing. Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time,” the statement reads, reports The Verge. The report further notes that the website is initially going to be available for healthcare officials rather than the public. However, it’s now been confirmed that anybody will be able to visit and access the website. Yet, the tool will only be able to direct people to the pilot sites for testing for the coronavirus in the Bay Area. Verily hopes to expand the project beyond California over time.