The World Health Organization partnered with Google to ensure verified information about coronavirus stays at the top of the search engine’s results.
Coronavirus, a SARS-like illness, broke out in Wuhan, China, in January, and medical professionals around the globe have been working to contain the virus while keeping the public calm. As part of the effort to combat coronavirus, the World Health Organization, an agency of the United Nations, has coordinated with Google to prevent false or misleading information about coronavirus from spreading.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said part of the effort to keep people from panicking about the disease is to coordinate with search engines and social media platforms to stop false information from spreading online.
“We have worked with Google to make sure people searching for information about coronavirus see WHO information at the top of their search results,” Tedros said. He also noted that the World Health Organization would be meeting with representatives from Twitter, Facebook, Tencent, and Tik Tok to discuss methods of preventing coronavirus rumors.
Tendros, who recently visited China to meet with Xi Jinping, coughed several times during the announcement of the partnership with Google but warned the crowd, “Don’t worry: It’s not corona.”
The World Health Organization reported that coronavirus has been accompanied by an “infodemic,” which the organization described as a sudden glut of information, some of which is false, that surrounded the outbreak. The organization said it has been working “24 hours a day to identify the most prevalent rumors that can potentially harm the public’s health, such as false prevention measures or cures.”
More than 17,300 people had been infected by coronavirus as of Monday morning. There are 11 cases confirmed in the United States, and in China, there have been 361 deaths confirmed by the government. The only death reported outside of China was one confirmed death in the Philippines.
Some have doubted the transparency with which China has handled the outbreak, including Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who called for “serious consequences” against China for its handling of the illness. National security adviser Robert O’Brien said he has been working on getting officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the ground in Wuhan to verify China’s reporting but said that Americans have no reason to “panic.”
