Alphabet's Verily, not Google, building coronavirus screening tool
What's the story
A few hours ago, US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the outbreak of coronavirus. The President detailed a containment strategy for the pandemic while emphasizing that the federal government is working with Google to develop a portal that would help Americans take advantage of the country's testing facilities. However, that is not the case, at least not exactly.
Claim
What the President said about this Google-built portal
In a press conference, President Trump and Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, announced that Google is building an online screening portal to boost the country's testing efforts. They claimed that the tool will let users know if they need a coronavirus test on the basis of symptoms and then guide them to a nearby testing center if needed.
Details
Tool to be prepped 'very quickly,' Trump added
"Google is helping to develop a website," the President said while noting that "it's going to be very quickly done—unlike websites of the past—to determine whether a test is warranted, and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location." In addition to this, he also claimed that as many as 1,700 Google engineers are working on the nationwide project.
Response
However, Google was quick to clear things up
Soon after Trump's announcement, Google's communication team issued a statement that the portal is being developed by Verily, another company under the corporate umbrella of its parent company Alphabet, and is not ready for state-level deployment. It is an early-stage tool, which is first going to be tested in one area and then expanded to other regions, provided things go as planned.
Response
Here's what Verily said about the screening tool
"We are developing a tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing," Verily said in a statement, which was issued by Google. It said the tool will be tested in "the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time" and thanked government officials, industry partners, and "Google engineers who have volunteered to be part of this effort."
Twitter Post
Take a look at Verily's full statement
“We appreciate the support of government officials and industry partners and thank the Google engineers who have volunteered to be part of this effort."
— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) March 13, 2020
Information
Triage site to go live in a few days
The small triage portal will go live in a few days, Carolyn Wang, communications lead for Verily, told The Verge. It will reportedly be hosted as part of Project Baseline, the website where people can sign up to take part in clinical Verily trials.