Apple Maps to Directly Display COVID-19 Testing Locations

[MacRumors]

Apple Maps will soon directly display COVID-19 testing locations alongside information specific to the site.

Apple today launched an online portal for healthcare providers, labs, or other businesses, to register as COVID-19 testing locations. The Apple Maps team will then review the application, and upon approval the location will appear in Apple Maps. Although the process is similar to the Apple Maps Connect portal normally used by businesses to add information to Apple Maps, this new service includes information specific to COVID-19 testing sites.

Testing locations will appear with a red medical glyph icon and a unique "COVID-19 Testing Site" card. Apple Maps will display the place name, associated healthcare provider, contact number and website, as well as information about the type of testing location. Apple is also asking applicants to state whether the testing location will require a doctor's referral or a scheduled appointment.

Apple does not say exactly how long it will be before testing locations will begin to appear in Maps, but assures that it is working quickly to verify and add as many testing locations as possible. The feature appears to be international.

Apple and Google yesterday announced a partnership on opt-in COVID-19 contact tracing technology for iPhone and Android smartphones.

Article Link: Apple Maps to Directly Display COVID-19 Testing Locations

 

[mistasopz]

With my past experiences with Apple Maps, there's no way I'm trusting it with anything important like finding a testing site. Too many poor experiences.

 

[The Barron]

With my past experiences with Apple Maps, there's no way I'm trusting it with anything important like finding a testing site. Too many poor experiences.

How recently have you had your "poor experiences?" I've had zero in the past two weeks and find it easier to open & use than "The Google" as Geroge Bush used to say.

 

[LeadingHeat]

This is actually really cool.

 

[itsmilo]

If only you could just get tested as easily. My coworker has a lung decease and has been waiting over a week now to get a call back. By that time she could have been as well dead already.

My sister is a teacher and one of her colleagues was also waiting to be tested and a week later they called back and were like oooops we took you off the list by mistake. He ended up having corona.

it seems like winning the lottery to be chosen to get tested.

We have drive thru testing here, but you need a code that is only valid for that particular date and provided by your doctor in advance. So one day that queue was so long, my sister couldn’t get tested that day and had to go all the way back to the doctor, waiting among potentially sick people AGAIN to get another code to try her luck again.

 

[FairlyKors]

If only you could just get tested as easily. My coworker has a lung decease and has been waiting over a week now to get a call back. By that time she could have been as well dead already.

My sister is a teacher and one of her colleagues was also waiting to be tested and a week later they called back and were like oooops we took you off the list by mistake. He ended up having corona.

it seems like winning the lottery to be chosen to get tested.

We have drive thru testing here, but you need a code that is only valid for that particular date and provided by your doctor in advance. So one day that queue was so long, my sister couldn’t get tested that day and had to go all the way back to the doctor, waiting among potentially sick people AGAIN to get another code to try her luck again.

I don’t know WTF is wrong here in the US with testing. It’s absolutely essential in order to get the economy up and running again. But it’s nice to see Apple integrate this already—especially since the special project with Google (which was supposed to do what Apple just achieved) has disappeared into thin air.

 

[dannyyankou]

With my past experiences with Apple Maps, there's no way I'm trusting it with anything important like finding a testing site. Too many poor experiences.

It's a lot better than it was EIGHT years ago

 

[Apple_Robert]

I like this idea a lot. Nice to see Apple being so proactive.

 

[Baymowe335]

I don’t know WTF is wrong here in the US with testing. It’s absolutely essential in order to get the economy up and running again. But it’s nice to see Apple integrate this already—especially since President ****-for-brains “incredible” special project with Google (which was supposed to do what Apple just achieved) has disappeared into thin air.

Do you think other countries (particularly Asia) are actually testing with any regularity? The numbers out of China are bold face lies. I don't believe anything from South Korea or Japan either. Those governments are not like the US government, projecting death rates that they eventually will have to walk back.

The cases in America are at least 10X what is being reported and likely the same or more worldwide. The fact not everyone is dying is actually good news because at least in America, 100% (or close) of the deaths are reported.

Testing is still somewhat overrated. We are in quarantine. You should be at home, interacting with no one besides your household. The knowledge that you have COVID-19 wouldn't really change what you should be doing anyway since there is no real treatment.

Unless you have underlying conditions, your process would be stay at home and wait it out. If you're extremely sick and need breathing assistance, you have to go to the hospital which can hopefully take you.

Only people like Bill Gates whose motives I question want everyone tested.

Apple is just trying to do their part in helping people find locations if needed.

 

[Böhme417]

If it takes them as long to add these as they do other changes in Apple Maps, we'll be on the next pandemic before they ever show up.

 

[Euge]

Do you think other countries (particularly Asia) are actually testing with any regularity? The numbers out of China are bold face lies. I don't believe anything from South Korea or Japan either. Those governments are not like the US government, projecting death rates that they eventually will have to walk back.

It doesn't matter how other countries are handling testing. It has no impact on solving the problem in the US.

at least in America, 100% (or close) of the deaths are reported.

Um, how do you know close to 100% of the deaths are reported? If a death isn't reported, then how do you know it wasn't reported?

Testing is still somewhat overrated. We are in quarantine. You should be at home, interacting with no one besides your household. The knowledge that you have COVID-19 wouldn't really change what you should be doing anyway since there is no real treatment.

Unless you have underlying conditions, your process would be stay at home and wait it out. If you're extremely sick and need breathing assistance, you have to go to the hospital which can hopefully take you.

Shelter-in-place and quarantine only goes so far. We can't wait it out forever. The economy would eventually collapse, nationally and globally. If we just slowly tried to return to normal, the virus would just cause local outbreaks and epidemics, causing more local lockdowns. We're still not even sure if it's possible for a person to get reinfected.

Stay-at-home orders is the first step in taking control until we have a vaccine. It's our attempt to control the spread at a very broad level. The next step is testing. And there are different types of test that will give us data, more than just determining whether a sick person has COVID-19 or not, such as who has had it, who is asymptomatic, contact tracing, true hot zones, etc. It will help us understand the virus more. So much of what is happening is because there are still so many unknowns about the virus.

Mass testing allows us to move controlling the spread from a wide and broad level (e.g. state, county) to a more local level (e.g. cities and neighborhoods). We may not necessarily need to move to testing every single individual, but we need to move controlling the spread from such a high general level to a more local level. With this data we can control the spread more effectively without national and state level stay at home orders. Quarantining smaller communities is much more effective than quarantining an entire state. This would allow us to slowly move back to a normal way of life and economy. The other option is wait it out, which could take 1-2 years. That would just kill the economy and more people.

 

[tzm41]

Do you think other countries (particularly Asia) are actually testing with any regularity? The numbers out of China are bold face lies. I don't believe anything from South Korea or Japan either. Those governments are not like the US government, projecting death rates that they eventually will have to walk back.

The cases in America are at least 10X what is being reported and likely the same or more worldwide. The fact not everyone is dying is actually good news because at least in America, 100% (or close) of the deaths are reported.

Testing is still somewhat overrated. We are in quarantine. You should be at home, interacting with no one besides your household. The knowledge that you have COVID-19 wouldn't really change what you should be doing anyway since there is no real treatment.

Unless you have underlying conditions, your process would be stay at home and wait it out. If you're extremely sick and need breathing assistance, you have to go to the hospital which can hopefully take you.

Only people like Bill Gates whose motives I question want everyone tested.

Apple is just trying to do their part in helping people find locations if needed.

Testing is essential because we can’t keep everyone locked up at home forever. Eventually we will have to allow people to go back to work, and PCR and antibody testing are gonna enable us to determine when and where we can open up the economy again.
It was just reported a few days ago that the death number of patients tested positive but died at home weren’t reported in NY death number. Where did your confidence in our number come from?
It’s also too early to determine if the Asian numbers are accurate. Japan’s number definitely is not - they reported low case count for a long time but now they are in a state of emergency. Korea’s number seems fine so far. We will also see if China’s number is accurate very soon, now that their lockdown is being ramped down quickly.

 

[hagar]

Is this US only? Isn’t Apple Maps an international product so shouldn’t they do this in other countries as well? I know healthcare in the US is something “special” but that doesn’t mean other countries wouldn’t benefit from similar initiatives.

 

[one more]

Is this US only? Isn’t Apple Maps an international product so shouldn’t they do this in other countries as well? I know healthcare in the US is something “special” but that doesn’t mean other countries wouldn’t benefit from similar initiatives.

Apple does not say exactly how long it will be before testing locations will begin to appear in Maps, but assures that it is working quickly to verify and add as many testing locations as possible. The feature appears to be international.

 

[e-coli]

Do you think other countries (particularly Asia) are actually testing with any regularity?

South Korea tested 100,000 people a day with rapid results tests. They had their first confirmed case the same day the US did. Their children are back at school. 4 months into the pandemic few people in the US can even get a test, and many places the results are taking upwards of 10 days.

Testing is still somewhat overrated. We are in quarantine. You should be at home, interacting with no one besides your household. The knowledge that you have COVID-19 wouldn't really change what you should be doing anyway since there is no real treatment.

The entirety of the medical and epidemiology professions would disagree with you. Testing is critical to understanding the extent and pattern of spread, as well as the degree of population immunity from past exposure. This cannot end without widespread testing.

 

[Baymowe335]

It doesn't matter how other countries are handling testing. It has no impact on solving the problem in the US.



Um, how do you know close to 100% of the deaths are reported? If a death isn't reported, then how do you know it wasn't reported?



Shelter-in-place and quarantine only goes so far. We can't wait it out forever. The economy would eventually collapse, nationally and globally. If we just slowly tried to return to normal, the virus would just cause local outbreaks and epidemics, causing more local lockdowns. We're still not even sure if it's possible for a person to get reinfected.

Stay-at-home orders is the first step in taking control until we have a vaccine. It's our attempt to control the spread at a very broad level. The next step is testing. And there are different types of test that will give us data, more than just determining whether a sick person has COVID-19 or not, such as who has had it, who is asymptomatic, contact tracing, true hot zones, etc. It will help us understand the virus more. So much of what is happening is because there are still so many unknowns about the virus.

Mass testing allows us to move controlling the spread from a wide and broad level (e.g. state, county) to a more local level (e.g. cities and neighborhoods). We may not necessarily need to move to testing every single individual, but we need to move controlling the spread from such a high general level to a more local level. With this data we can control the spread more effectively without national and state level stay at home orders. Quarantining smaller communities is much more effective than quarantining an entire state. This would allow us to slowly move back to a normal way of life and economy. The other option is wait it out, which could take 1-2 years. That would just kill the economy and more people.

I agree longer term testing will become more important. Currently, it’s less so because we should be at home.

Importantly, everyone who has been tested needs to be retested when the time comes to restart the economy. That’s the point in testing being overrated right now. You can’t just be tested once and not again, so we need constant testing, but not necessarily for every American every day.

Testing is FAR more important for people who are violating or approved to leave quarantine when we restart commerce.

Leaving quarantine just to get tested actually worsens the problem of spread. Stay home.
[automerge]1586634502[/automerge]

South Korea tested 100,000 people a day with rapid results tests. They had their first confirmed case the same day the US did. Their children are back at school. 4 months into the pandemic few people in the US can even get a test, and many places the results are taking upwards of 10 days.





The entirety of the medical and epidemiology professions would disagree with you. Testing is critical to understanding the extent and pattern of spread, as well as the degree of population immunity from past exposure. This cannot end without widespread testing.

I didn’t say it was not important, but being tested while in quarantine isn’t very productive. Testing needs to happen constantly and only if we are going down the path to restart commerce. Being tested just for the knowledge while you should be at home is overrated. Once quarantine is lifted, testing becomes very important and I wouldn’t argue against it.

 

[Tom Tong]

Apple Maps will soon directly display COVID-19 testing locations alongside information specific to the site.

Apple today launched an online portal for healthcare providers, labs, or other businesses, to register as COVID-19 testing locations. The Apple Maps team will then review the application, and upon approval the location will appear in Apple Maps. Although the process is similar to the Apple Maps Connect portal normally used by businesses to add information to Apple Maps, this new service includes information specific to COVID-19 testing sites.

Testing locations will appear with a red medical glyph icon and a unique "COVID-19 Testing Site" card. Apple Maps will display the place name, associated healthcare provider, contact number and website, as well as information about the type of testing location. Apple is also asking applicants to state whether the testing location will require a doctor's referral or a scheduled appointment.

Apple does not say exactly how long it will be before testing locations will begin to appear in Maps, but assures that it is working quickly to verify and add as many testing locations as possible. The feature appears to be international.

Apple and Google yesterday announced a partnership on opt-in COVID-19 contact tracing technology for iPhone and Android smartphones.

Article Link: Apple Maps to Directly Display COVID-19 Testing Locations

My company wrote this 3 weeks ago!! We even told Engadget! It now has discussion sections for frontline warriors, first responders, researchers and the public too. Also a community section for trading goods and services. Please check it out at www.starrynet.us/facilities. It is a page we piggybacked onto our existing site to save on costs and resources.

 

[Bandaman]

With my past experiences with Apple Maps, there's no way I'm trusting it with anything important like finding a testing site. Too many poor experiences.

I haven't had any poor experiences with Apple Maps for about 2 years now.

 

[macfacts]

How recently have you had your "poor experiences?" I've had zero in the past two weeks and find it easier to open & use than "The Google" as Geroge Bush used to say.

Reading the summary, it sounds like it is easy to send in fake info (test site locations), all based on honor system.

 

[scrapesleon]

Nice hopefully it will be available in the next few days

 

[Solomani]

Dear Apple, please make Apple Maps locate the toilet paper "In Stock" locations.

kthnx

 

[TheSkywalker77]

With my past experiences with Apple Maps, there's no way I'm trusting it with anything important like finding a testing site. Too many poor experiences.

There’s always that one person.

 

[Rainshadow]

Do you think other countries (particularly Asia) are actually testing with any regularity? The numbers out of China are bold face lies. I don't believe anything from South Korea or Japan either. Those governments are not like the US government, projecting death rates that they eventually will have to walk back.

The cases in America are at least 10X what is being reported and likely the same or more worldwide. The fact not everyone is dying is actually good news because at least in America, 100% (or close) of the deaths are reported.

Testing is still somewhat overrated. We are in quarantine. You should be at home, interacting with no one besides your household. The knowledge that you have COVID-19 wouldn't really change what you should be doing anyway since there is no real treatment.

Unless you have underlying conditions, your process would be stay at home and wait it out. If you're extremely sick and need breathing assistance, you have to go to the hospital which can hopefully take you.

Only people like Bill Gates whose motives I question want everyone tested.

Apple is just trying to do their part in helping people find locations if needed.

You must be joking...

A surprising number of workers are still working. All healthcare, most grocery, Walmart’s, home improvement stores, any mail or delivery folks, all governement employees. Really, where I’m at, the ONLY people not going to work are bar and restaurant employees (and a third of them are doing takeout), many part time positions like janitorial services, tourism shops and the like. Staples was open today. I’m also “essential”. You say stay home. We all try, but while 15% (?) or so of folks are unemployed, that still leaves 85% of folks. Of those, from what I’m seeing (in a shut down state) 50% are still leaving home at least occasionally for work.

You say you only need a test if you have underlying conditions - false. Healthy young folks need those tests so they stay HOME. Sure, you’re supposed to, but honestly, if people don’t think they are sick, they will leave home. It’s a fact in America. Same for those essential workers. I have friends that REQUIRE a positive COVID test to qualify for taking time off. I just shake my head when people downplay the need for tests. In a theoretical computer program, everyone stays home. In real life that is almost impossible. At The least people will still go to the grocery store.

testing is a critical pivot point. I don’t care if you believe japan or South Korea. Really, I would believe their numbers as soon or even before ours at this point. If you haven’t read the Dozens of articles proving our numbers are under counted BECAUSE of our inability to test, go rea

For ANY infection, testing is CRITICAL and even if we “peak” we will continue to smolder until we have the ability to quickly test and quarantine.

Please, don’t simply dismiss information against your simplified view of a solution. If it was so easy to “just stay home” for large populations in a responsive economy, this wouldn’t be a pandemic.

 

[mistasopz]

There’s always that one person.

So if the directions and location are wrong then it's the user's fault in your opinion?

 

[Baymowe335]

You must be joking...

A surprising number of workers are still working. All healthcare, most grocery, Walmart’s, home improvement stores, any mail or delivery folks, all governement employees. Really, where I’m at, the ONLY people not going to work are bar and restaurant employees (and a third of them are doing takeout), many part time positions like janitorial services, tourism shops and the like. Staples was open today. I’m also “essential”. You say stay home. We all try, but while 15% (?) or so of folks are unemployed, that still leaves 85% of folks. Of those, from what I’m seeing (in a shut down state) 50% are still leaving home at least occasionally for work.

You say you only need a test if you have underlying conditions - false. Healthy young folks need those tests so they stay HOME. Sure, you’re supposed to, but honestly, if people don’t think they are sick, they will leave home. It’s a fact in America. Same for those essential workers. I have friends that REQUIRE a positive COVID test to qualify for taking time off. I just shake my head when people downplay the need for tests. In a theoretical computer program, everyone stays home. In real life that is almost impossible. At The least people will still go to the grocery store.

testing is a critical pivot point. I don’t care if you believe japan or South Korea. Really, I would believe their numbers as soon or even before ours at this point. If you haven’t read the Dozens of articles proving our numbers are under counted BECAUSE of our inability to test, go rea

For ANY infection, testing is CRITICAL and even if we “peak” we will continue to smolder until we have the ability to quickly test and quarantine.

Please, don’t simply dismiss information against your simplified view of a solution. If it was so easy to “just stay home” for large populations in a responsive economy, this wouldn’t be a pandemic.

You didn’t read my post. I said we are in quarantine and no one should be out. Testing while in quarantine is overrated and could cause more unnecessary spread. If you are at home like you’re supposed to be, there is no reason to test unless you have a severe condition for which you need medical attention.

We should be testing when people are out of quarantine.

I’m also on record saying our quarantine implementation is a joke.