Google Makes It Easy For People To Find Locations For COVID-19 Testing

JAKARTA - Google makes it easier for people to find locations for testing for the corona virus or COVID-19 at the closest hospital to their place of residence. This testing or 'testing' feature will work in 43 states, including Indonesia.

When a user searches for something related to COVID-19, they will now see a "Testing" tab as part of the information displayed in Google's COVID-19 SOS alert. When clicking or tapping the Testing tab, the user will see some information regarding the COVID-19 test at the top of the search results.

This information includes a link to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) online COVID-19 symptom checker, advice on speaking with a healthcare provider if a test is required, a link to a COVID-19 testing information from local health authorities and a note that users may need to call to the testing center first to make sure you can actually get the test.

According to The Verge, Monday, April 20, this feature is one of the newest tools the company has to offer to prevent the spread of COVID-19, along with assistance of US $ 50 million from Google to prevent the pandemic from spreading.

However, there are some incomplete lists of testing facilities in several states, including New York. Google only shares the locations of testing facilities that have been approved for publication by local health authorities, although Google says it has added more to the list in New York, USA.

Meanwhile, testing facilities in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Maine, Connecticut, Oklahoma, New Jersey and Missouri were excluded from the search results. The criteria for and availability of COVID-19 testing services vary by place of residence, which is why Google shows local information with this resource.

To be more accurate, Google obtains testing information from government agencies, public health departments, or directly from health agencies.

For information, since its launch on March 21, Google hopes that the COVID-19 website will be useful to help the public in preventing the spread of the virus. Not only that, Verily, a sister company of Google, is also offering a free COVID-19 test to people in California, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania if they qualify after taking the online test.

Google isn't the only company working to make it easier to find COVID-19 testing information. A few days ago, Apple also launched a web so that healthcare providers and laboratories that have COVID-19 testing facilities can submit their information and appear in Apple Maps search results as testing sites.