Google Maps to show area-wise COVID-19 info to help users get around safely

Google is introducing a new feature this week in Maps that will show critical information about COVID-19 cases and will help users make more informed decisions about where to go and what to do. The latest tool will be visible on Google Maps on the layers button on the top right-hand corner of the screen. Users will have to click on 'COVID-19 info' to see how the place they are planning to visit is faring. 

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"More than one billion people turn to Google Maps for essential information about how to get from place to place–especially during the pandemic when safety concerns are top of mind. While getting around is more complicated these days, our hope is that these Google Maps features will help you get where you need to be as safely and efficiently as possible. The COVID layer starts rolling out worldwide on Android and iOS this week," Google said in a blog post. 

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How does it work?

The tool will show a seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases per 1,00,000 people for the area of the map users are looking at, with a label that will indicate whether the cases are trending up or down. Colour coding will help the user distinguish the density of new cases in an area, for example - Grey will indicate less than 1 case, Yellow will mean 1-10 cases, Orange will indicate 10-20 cases, Dark Orange: 20-30 cases, Red: 30-40 cases, and Dark Red: 40+ cases. 

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Trending case data is visible at the country level for all 220 countries and territories that Google Maps supports, along with state or province, county, and city-level data where available. Data featured in the COVID-19 info layer comes from multiple authoritative sources, including Johns Hopkins University, the New York Times, and Wikipedia. These sources get their data from public health organisations like the World Health Organization (WHO), government health ministries, along with state and local health agencies and hospitals.

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