There are two extremely dangerous things spreading like wildfire today – novel coronavirus and misinformation about COVID-19, which it’s safe to say, is as dangerous as the virus itself. But here’s the thing, there are ways you can avoid both through caution. While novel coronavirus can be avoided by maintaining what’s being called as ‘social distance,’ and taking personal hygiene very seriously, misinformation or fake news as we call it today, can be avoided by simply not blindly believing every random x, y, or z thing you hear about it, say on WhatsApp.
But what do you do when the president of America adds to the confusion?
On Friday, US president Donald Trump announced that 1,700 engineers at Google were working on building a website that would help Americans in coronavirus testing – right from figuring out if a test was needed to directing them to a nearest test site. It was a bold thing to say, because, as it turned out (hours later), Google was not even remotely working on such a website – and it wasn’t planning to make one either.
Google is building a coronavirus ‘information’ website
That’s not to say Google doesn’t have a plan of action against the growing coronavirus threat. Google has announced, via a blog post, that it is “partnering with the US government in developing a nationwide website that includes information about COVID-19 symptoms, risk, and testing information.” That’s right, Google is building an ‘information’ website rather than one that would guide people to novel coronavirus testing locations. It’s going to be much simpler – and in a way, far more useful.
The website, as Google puts it, will act as a repository for “best practices on prevention, links to authoritative information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and helpful tips and tools from Google for individuals, teachers and businesses.” Google says it will be out with an ‘initial version’ of its information website on March 16 – and it will continue to add more information to it ‘on an ongoing basis.’
So what was Trump talking about?
What about the website that Trump promised, you ask. Well there is a coronavirus testing website currently in development in America but it’s totally unrelated to Google. It’s in fact being built by sister company Verily. Both Google and Verily are two different companies owned by parent company Alphabet, and even though 1,700 Google engineers have volunteered to help with the ‘coronavirus triage site,’ the extent of the collaboration remains a mystery for now.
Plus, Verily’s coronavirus ‘testing’ website is just a ‘testing pilot program’ designed to test the “highest risk individuals at select sites in the San Francisco Bay Area, where there is a significant volume of known cases.” The company plans to ‘scale the capacity’ as more testing kits and sites become available. Just like Google’s information website, Verily’s testing website is going live on March 16.
As opposed to what Google is doing with its website, Verily’s goal is to “help local authorities expand testing access in California as the need continues to increase.” Simply put, while Google’s website would cater to a wider audience across America with information that could help people avoid exposure to novel coronavirus, Verily’s website seems it would cater more specifically to health workers – in one area – and people who have a higher risk of being exposed to COVID-19. Again, not the same thing Trump had promised.
