Google Maps Will Now Tell You Number Of COVID-19 Cases In A Location

Today, nearly ten months since the disease first broke out, COVID-19 continues to spread around the world like wildfire affecting thousands of people every day.

While we all desperately wait for a vaccine that can take down the novel coronavirus we¡¯re all adopting social-distancing and wearing face masks to keep us safe. But what if we could also get a warning when we enter a particular area about the number of cases that exist in that region?

Google

Google has included something like this in its navigation app -- dubbed COVID Layer, Google Maps will now show users information of COVID-19 cases in a particular area to warn the users travelling and being prepared beforehand.

The data that¡¯s on the app is being uploaded from sources like John Hopkins Institute, New York Times and even Wikipedia. These source their news from public health organisations like WHO, government health ministries as well as state and local health agencies.

To enable this feature, simply head to Google Maps and tap on the ¡®layers¡¯ button on the top right-hand corner. Next, from the options, simply tap on ¡®COVID-19 Info¡¯.

According to Sujoy Banerjee, Product Manager, Google Maps, "You'll then see a seven-day average of new Covid cases per 100,000 people for the area of the map you're looking at, and a label that indicates whether the cases are trending up or down."

The density of the number of cases has been highlighted through a colour chart that helps people to easily identify the severity of cases in a particular area. Maps also offers trending case data on a country level for 220 countries as well as state or province-based data, if available.

Reuters

Maps has also included features to warn users that they¡¯re commuting in a COVID-19 world. Banerjee added, "Features like popular times and live busyness, Covid-19 alerts in transit, and Covid checkpoints in driving navigation were all designed to help you stay safe when you're out and about."