President Donald Trump revealed Friday that the United States federal government’s coronavirus screening device, which has actually lagged badly behind other established countries, would soon get a help from Google. The search and advertising giant will develop a website, Trump said, that would help Americans figure out if they need a test for the infection, and if so where they can find one.
The only problem: There is no nationwide website like the one Trump described. And Google had no idea the president was going to mention one.
A source at Google informs WIRED that company management was amazed that Trump announced anything about the initiative at journalism conference. What he did say was also nearly entirely incorrect. There will be a coronavirus testing site, not from Google but from Alphabet sis company Verily. “We are establishing a tool to assist triage people for Covid-19 testing,” Google tweeted in a statement. “Verily is in the early stages of advancement, and preparing to roll testing out in the Bay Location, with the hope of broadening more broadly with time.”
Even that, though, was not the original plan. The Brink reported Friday afternoon that Verily had actually meant the website for health care workers only. After Trump unexpectedly advertised the effort, Verily decided it will let anyone see it, however can still only provide individuals with testing website information in the San Francisco location.
Google did not react to ask for remark. A Verily spokesperson identified the intent of the website in a different way from the Brink report. “We were initially planning to focus on greatest risk populations, that includes health care employees– but this was not solely meant for them,” the company said. “We are working together with organizations like Mission Diagnostics and Labcorp as part of this effort, and local organizations to determine what will work b
