Coronavirus screening website launched by Google Verily’s Project Baseline

A pilot website intended to offer COVID-19 risk screening and testing for high-risk individuals set to go live Monday, launched Sunday evening.

The site is limited to residents of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Participants must be U.S. residents, be 18 or older, speak and read English and be willing to sign a COVID-19 Public Health authorization form.

Information on a screening site at Project Baseline, an online health-information platform run by Google subsidiary Verily, said it was “working to deliver COVID-19 testing initially in select counties in the Bay Area to the highest risk populations as defined by the California Department of Public Health.”

Testing was available for residents of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, which have seen a number of illnesses and deaths from the virus.

It then advised San Francisco Bay Area residents to complete an online screening process to see about testing availability. Those who meet testing requirements will be asked to visit mobile testing sites for a nasal swab test, with results available within a few days.

“As more testing kits and sites become available, we plan to scale the capacity. Ultimately, our goal is to help local authorities expand testing access in California as the need continues to increase,” a blog post about the program said Sunday.

“The program is in its early stages, and we will take the time to assess operations at pilot sites in the Bay Area before rolling out to additional sites. We are working closely with Governor Newsom’s office, federal authorities and local public health authorities to ensure we have the right capabilities in place to help more people over the coming weeks.”

While some initial social-media responses expressed appreciation for the site, which was touted by President Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, others expressed concern about privacy, noting the need to set up or link a Google account to access the site.

The site is live at https://www.projectbaseline.com/study/covid-19/

 

Verily's Project Baseline (my team!) worked all through the weekend to launch COVID-19 risk screening and testing in California. See if you are eligible for further Coronavirus testing now: https://t.co/8jhZ9obwMl

— Ryan Seys (@ryanseys) March 16, 2020

Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.

from News: Redlands Daily Facts https://ift.tt/3b0SHRK