Trump Misleads Public on Scope of Google Coronavirus Screening Site
President Trump and health officials misleadingly suggest Google is building a nationwide coronavirus screening website, when the project actually belongs to a sister company and is limited to the San Francisco Bay Area.
President Trump and other government officials misleadingly suggest that Google is creating a comprehensive coronavirus screening website for the general public. During a press conference, Trump heavily implies that the site will soon be available to all Americans by highlighting the rapid development and mentioning thousands of testing locations across the country.
Coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx further fuels this misconception by presenting the website as a central component of a new national testing strategy. She describes a process where anyone can go online to complete a screening questionnaire and find nearby drive-thru testing locations, painting a picture of a widespread, immediately accessible tool.
In reality, the project is spearheaded by Verily, a sister company to Google, and initially restricts its services solely to the San Francisco Bay Area. Google quickly issues a clarifying statement via Twitter shortly after the press conference to correct the record and outline the actual, limited scope of the triage tool.