Google Maps Gets New Layer to Show COVID-19 Hotspots

For the ongoing cases of covid-19, technology giant Google on Wednesday announced a new feature for Google Maps called ‘COVID layer’.

According to Google, the new feature will show the users important information like the number of covid-19 cases in an area that will help the users to make decisions about whether to go to that particular area or not.

As well as, Google also said on its Blog, that the users can see the data in Google Maps after opening it and tapping on the layers button on the top right-hand corner of the screen and clicking on the “covid-19 info”.

This will then show a seven-day average of new covid cases per 100,000 people for the area. Moreover, a label will also let users know whether the number of COVID-19 cases in a particular spot is trending up or down.

According to Maps product manager Sujoy Banerjee, the data used in the COVID-19 layer comes from sources including Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins hospital, the New York Times, and Wikipedia, which get information from public health organizations such as the World Health Organization and government health ministries.

The COVID-19 layer is rolling out this week worldwide in versions of the map app tailored for mobile devices powered by Apple or Google-backed Android software, the California-based company said.