Alphabet’s Verily on Sunday night launched a pilot of a COVID-19 screening and testing website in the San Francisco Bay Area, a day earlier than it said it would.
Alphabet’s Verily on Sunday night launched a pilot of a COVID-19 screening and testing website in the San Francisco Bay Area, a day earlier than it said it would.
To qualify for screening, it requires users to have a Google account and agree to information being potentially shared with Google.
The website through a multi-step process lets Californians take an online COVID-19 “screener survey,” which will direct patients to testing sites in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
In order to be eligible, users must be at least 18 years of age, a U.S. resident, able to speak and read English, located in one of the available counties, and willing to sign the COVID-19 Public Health “authorization form.”
Before the user can find out if they qualify for testing, they have to create or use a Google account to login and sign an authorization waiver. During the registration process, Verily informs users that it will be collecting personal information like name, address, email, phone number and health information, which can all be used by various government and health authorities and for “public health purposes.”
“Information may also be shared with certain service providers engaged to perform services on behalf of Verily, including Google, which Verily leverages for certain technology and services, including cloud services, security services, data storage, website hosting, and other support functions,” the website states.
People who meet eligibility requirements for testing will be directed to “mobile” testing sites “based on capacity,” where they will complete a nasal swab test, the company said. It did not say what it considers eligible qualities and didn’t immediately respond to requests for clarification. Once tested, individuals will be informed of their test results “within a few days.”
The company described their collaboration in a blog post Sunday, explaining how the tool was meant to help with “screening and testing for people at high risk of COVID-19. “The tool will triage people who are concerned about their COVID-19 risk into testing sites based on guidance from public health officials and test availability.”
The pilot program was launched in the Bay Area because it has the highest volume of known cases, Verily said in the blog post. “As more testing kits and sites become available, we plan to scale the capacity.” the company told CNBC on Friday that while it hopes to scale nationwide, it has no particular timeline.
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