Google Launches Portal for COVID-19 Related Info

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-2: these are, without a doubt, the most-searched terms on the internet as of this writing, as the pandemic continues to spread throughout the globe.

The viral outbreak, nominally referred to as nCoV or COVID-19, is changing socio-economic landscapes on an unprecedented scale. We’re seeing workforces and classes move from offices and lecture halls to virtual spaces, and as self-isolation measures get stricter as the days pass, social distancing has also led to distant socializing: social media platforms have become a necessity, rather than a timesink.

In light of these remarkable changes, Google, commonly considered the doorway to surface web (the searchable internet), has launched a page search portal for information on COVID-19.

Logicbase Interactive explores the portal in today’s article.

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Originally launched only for the North American region, the portal has since been expanded to include countries severely affected by the viral outbreak, such as Italy, Spain, the Philippines, Germany, Iran, Malaysia, Brazil, and Australia. It can be easily accessed by typing “coronavirus”, “ncov”, “covid”, or “covid-19” into Google’s search bar.

The portal features a wealth of information curated for the country or region the user’s IP address indicates.

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The portal collects verified information from health ministries and agencies based on the user’s IP address, and then segments data into separate modules, such as the global map module for tracking the outbreak, a statistics module for tracking the number of confirmed infections and mortalities, and separate tabs for critical information like disease overview, symptoms, prevention, and treatments.

Google’s COVID-19 portal is providing help to a lot of house-bound individuals by bringing together as many legitimate threads of information as it can. The portal, which focuses on the basics while still providing links to more detailed reports and health sources, helps bridge the informational gap between users and health ministries and agencies. In doing so, Google’s portal keeps people informed on relevant news while still in self-isolation.

Moving forward, portals such as these will likely be expected from Google during times of crisis – and would make our online communities more empowered and enriched for it.

Check out the portal today.