Google Maps adds new COVID-19 layer for safer navigation during the pandemic

The data presented on Google Maps is gathered from multiple authoritative sources.

Moneycontrol News

September 24, 2020 / 18:30 IST

Google is introducing a feature for its Maps platform on mobile phones that will provide essential information about COVID-19, which has now become a regular part of daily lives, at least of the people travelling and commuting. The new layer will give provide essential information about the rate of infections.

When you open Google Maps, tap the ‘layers’ button on the top right-hand corner of the screen and click on ‘COVID-19 Info’. This will give you the seven-day average data of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people for the area of the map you are looking at.

Additionally, a label will indicate whether the cases are trending up or down with appropriate colour coding. Colour coding will also help you distinguish the density of new cases in an area. Moreover, you can also access trending case data for all 220 countries and territories supported by Google Maps. The data provides detailed information on cases in states, provinces, counties, and cities.

COVID_19

The data presented on Google Maps is gathered from multiple authoritative sources, including the New York Times, Johns Hopkins University, and Wikipedia. These sources receive data from public health organisations like the World Health Organisation, government health ministries, and state and local agencies.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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