• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 16, 2020

As most Americans began reshaping their lives this past weekend, Verily, a little-known Alphabet company and sister company to Google, has been hard at work with plans to roll out an initial version of a website related to COVID-19 late Monday.

The website is a joint effort between Verily and California state, local and federal health authorities.

“We’re partnering with the U.S. government in developing a website dedicated to COVID-19 education, prevention and local resources nationwide,” wrote Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a post published Sunday. “This includes best practices on prevention, links to authoritative information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and helpful tips and tools from Google for individuals, teachers and businesses.”

During a press briefing on Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence referenced a website that would support the need to initially determine if someone sick needs to be tested for the virus.

“At some point early in the week, we will have a website that goes up. The purpose of which will be for people to go and first fill out a questionnaire,” he said.

Pence mentioned the possibility of adding testing site locations, but provided no timeline. He also said the team has been working around the clock since Friday to launch the project.

Minutes before the White House provided information about the website, California Gov. Gavin Newsom provided more information at his own press conference.

“We are very encouraged by this partnership, very enthusiastic to finally announce it,” Newsom said. “I know there’s been some conversations about it in the media.”

Newsom described a web portal where people can go to answer specific questions that would determine whether someone needed to be tested. If so, it would direct them to a nearby mobile testing site.

The portal will work with two pilot sites in the Bay Area: Santa Clara County and San Mateo County. There are plans to expand to other areas.

Federal and local officials are scrambling to respond to a crisis in flux. “People in the United States need to understand that the U.S. system is designed to respond at the local not the national level,” said Francis Bassolino, managing partner at Alaris in Shanghai, China. “If local leaders fail to lead, we could witness some significant tragedies.”

Bassolino said companies should take every opportunity to demonstrate leadership, compassion and support for their employees, customers and communities.  

“Petty self-absorbed leaders and brands will be punished, while those that step up and chip in will be rewarded,” he said.

This article has been updated. An earlier version credited Alphabet, not Verily, with developing the site.