Apple Maps To Highlight Coronavirus Testing Sites

Apple Maps will soon help people know the location of nearby COVID-19 testing sites, and will even provide them with directions just like how it provides navigation instructions to other places.

According to a report from Apple Insider, Apple is now encouraging healthcare providers, laboratories and other related health businesses to submit information regarding COVID-19 testing locations so they can be added to Apple Maps. The Cupertino tech giant said it will validate all submitted information and will include valid testing locations in the app once ready.

Adding a testing location

Those who want to submit their information are asked to proceed to the dedicated Apple Business Register site for COVID-19 listings, download the CSV template where the information has to be entered, and then send the file back to Apple for verification.

The information that testing centers need to submit for verification include the following, as per the file: the name of the testing center, its complete address (including the street, city, and state), its contact details (including country codes and phone numbers), the URL to its website, its category (whether a laboratory, hospital, diagnostic center), schedules, type of testing location and so on.

Apple noted in the file that those who will submit are required to provide testing location information that the company “may display to its users.” It also emphasizes that those who submit should not include their personal information.

Verified and approved

Once all of the required information has been included in the file and submitted to Apple using a business email address, Cupertino will review the file and will contact those who submitted for verification purposes.

In a FAQ page, Apple explained that it might not notify those who have submitted if it has received their information. This is because the company is currently “focused on collecting and adding as many locations as possible.”

It added that it cannot provide estimates regarding how long it will take for testing locations to be shown in Apple Maps. It assures those who submit that it is “working to verify and add as many testing locations as we can, as quickly as possible.” Apple Insider noted that approved testing locations will be marked on the app with a red medical logo, and will have cards that contain relevant info.