Google creates coronavirus site to help find tests

Google is working on a website for coronavirus testing, according to internal documents viewed by CNBC and an announcement from President Donald Trump on Friday.

Trump said at a press conference announcing a state of emergency due to the coronavirus that Google now has 1,700 engineers working on the effort.

Google's testing website will be where people can fill out a questionnaire and learn how to get tested for the coronavirus, government officials said at the press conference. The website will offer options to learn more about the risk factors and symptoms of coronavirus.

Pichai, in an internal memo sent Thursday that was seen by CNBC, said employees had asked if the company could help with the COVID-19 testing efforts.

"Yesterday at TGIF, someone had a question about whether Verily could help in the efforts to test people for COVID-19. I know we are all looking for ways to help right now, so I checked with their team to see if they could use the support of Google and our other bets for a new effort being planned, "said Pichai. "The good news is that a planning effort is underway to use Verily's life science and clinical research expertise in partnership with Google to assist in the COVID- testing effort. 19 in the United States "

Verily is the life science company of Alphabet.

Pichai said the company is working with government officials to refer vulnerable patients to its Project reference website. It was not immediately clear if it was the same website mentioned by President Donald Trump.

"As new test kits become available, planners are looking to develop a path for public health and health care agencies to direct people to our referral website, where the most risk can be directed to test sites based on the latest guidelines from the public health authorities, "Pichai said in the note.

The Baseline project, which says it "is collaborating to build the next generation of health tools and services" is an initiative that maps the health data points used in clinical research. This research is used in collaboration with other researchers, clinicians, engineers, designers and volunteers, according to the Baseline website.

The company-wide memo comes as Google employees and other tech industry members express concern about the virus and what their employer is doing to help the rapid spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. This week, the company ordered almost all of its employees worldwide to work from home, including its more than 100,000 North American employees. CNBC found that a Google employee in his Bangalore, India office tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and was in quarantine.

Google did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The company later said on Twitter that it was developing a triage tool that it would deploy near its headquarters in Mountain View, California. He made no further comments regarding the President's remarks.

"We are developing a tool to help screen individuals for Covid-19 tests," the Google communications team tweeted Friday afternoon after the president's press conference. "Verily is in the early stages of development and plans to launch tests in the bay area, with hopes of developing more widely over time."

"We appreciate the support of government officials and industry partners and thank the Google engineers who volunteered to participate in this effort," he said.

Verily is already developing a small body-worn temperature patch that transmits data to a phone app for the early diagnosis of flu-like illness, Pichai said in a blog post earlier this week.

The World Health Organization said this week that the coronavirus epidemic is a global pandemic. On Friday, the epidemic killed more than 5,000 people and 135,000 confirmed cases worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, not all people with symptoms have access to the limited test kits.

"Verily is part of the Alphabet family and could use our help in the days and weeks to come to respond as quickly as possible to the rapidly changing situation of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Pichai in the memo.