Google is building a screening website to gain access to coronavirus testing, Trump says – The Verge

Google is working with the US government in building a specialized website to help people determine whether and how to get a coronavirus test, President Donald Trump said in the course of issuing an emergency declaration for the coronavirus pandemic. The site would allow people to enter their symptoms and then get directed to a nearby testing facility, Trump said.

We have reached out to Google for more information on the website and will update this story when we hear back. President Trump claimed that 1,700 Google engineers are dedicated to the project.

Unfortunately, we don’t know much more about this website, including its URL or when it will launch. Debbie Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, later provided a few more details for the website’s proposed features in the form of a flowchart:

#coronavirus chart pic.twitter.com/d9yR7lAl7C

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman)

The new coronavirus is spreading through the US, and several states have made emergency declarations. The World Health Organization has declared it a pandemic. Here are the basics:

As Birx described the website, citizens will be able to enter their symptoms and, depending on what the results are, may be directed to a “drive thru” testing facility. That same website will apparently also be where people can go to find their results.

CNBC says that it has seen an internal Google memo from CEO Sundar Pichai indicating that Verily — a company that’s part of Alphabet but nominally separate from Google — is somehow involved in the project. “The good news is that a planning effort is underway to use the expertise in life sciences and clinical research of Verily in partnership with Google to aid in the COVID-19 testing effort in the U.S,” Pichai wrote, according to CNBC.

Verily engages in several kinds of tech-related medical and life sciences research. It has Project Baseline, where people can sign up for medical research, has worked on smart shoes, and has long-term projects like a temperature-sensing smart body patch.

Alongside the website, the president’s emergency declaration should open up to $50 billion in funding, new testing facilities, and new partnerships with private companies to provide testing services. You can read more on the government’s response in our story.