Coronavirus Update: Google To Partner With The US Government In Developing Nationwide Website

With the coronavirus death toll nearing 6000, Google has vowed to work in partnership with the U.S. government in building a countrywide website. Google has cleared its stand after President Donald Trump’s press conference on Friday, March 13.

The official communications handle of Google has tweeted the company’s plan of action concerning coronavirus.

“We are fully aligned and continue to work with the US Government to contain the spread of COVID-19, inform citizens, and protect the health of our communities. Google is partnering with the US Government in developing a nationwide website that includes information about COVID-19 symptoms, risk and testing information,” a company spokesperson tweeted via Google Communications.

In the statement, Google confirmed that apart from the nationwide website, the company is also developing a home page promotion to spread awareness of simple measures people can implement to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Also, Google’s sister company, Verily, is launching a pilot website that will allow users to do a “risk assessment and be scheduled for testing at sites in the Bay Area.”

Google also stated that it will not let misinformation spread through Google Search and YouTube. The search engine giant said that it is taking measures to safeguard users from conspiracy theories, misinformation, malware and phishing.

The statement also said that Google is rolling out free access to its advanced Hangouts Meet video conferencing tech to all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers globally until April 7, 2020.

This new guideline by Google came after it released a statement that Verily was developing a website to provide information regarding coronavirus test centers in the Bay area. The statement contradicted President Trump’s claims the Google was developing a portal for the entire county. However, Google is indeed working in partnership with the government to deal with coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus has spread to 142 countries as of late Saturday, March 14 with 156,112 confirmed cases and 5,830 deaths across the world.