A week ago, President Donald Trump held a news conference claiming that Google would build a coronavirus screening website that would lead people to test sites. As we learned the following days, that was not true. Google’s sister company Verily launched such a site, but only for the Bay Area and reportedly only offered tests to a very small number of people. However, Google did say it would launch some kind of website and after a little delay, it’s there.
In addition to the website, and perhaps more importantly, Google will begin to provide improved information maps for people searching for terms related to the coronavirus. There will be information tabs for symptoms, prevention, global statics and locally relevant information. It looks something like this:
The website is up google.com/covid19. It has useful resources, including a map that mimics what you see above. Google’s post announcing the site says you can find “state-based information, safety and prevention tips, search trends related to COVID-19, and further resources for individuals, educators, and businesses.” Google emphasizes that it extracts information from “authoritative” sources such as the WHO and the CDC.
It is currently only available in English, but a Google spokesperson tells us The edge that Spanish support will follow soon. The site has also been designed with accessibility in mind, including the larger fonts Google usually uses.
The website has videos in ASL, a global map with confirmed cases by country, and a lot of information about Google’s other relief efforts, plus some feel-good YouTube videos.
However, if you read through that description, you will find that it does not include what Trump originally claimed it would be. The closest thing to finding a test is a drop-down menu with links to local websites – if you choose California, for example, you’ll get a link to the California Department of Public Health.
Currently, the CDC has a “self-checker” chatbot that Microsoft helped build, but the WSJ quoted a health care provider director who put it in a realistic context: “It’s just something consumers now need to help with anxiety.”
In other words, many major technology companies are making an effort to provide coronavirus-related support, but none of them is able to solve some of the biggest problems of the pandemic: access to testing and the impending crisis in our health infrastructure.
At some point in the future, Google may provide a questionnaire and information about local drive-thru test sites. But a spokesperson says the company will not do this until there is authoritative and reliable information on those sites. Unfortunately, that can take a long time.