By Rob Copeland 

SAN FRANCISCO -- A Google-affiliated website intended to help direct potential coronavirus patients to testing facilities was quickly overwhelmed by demand Monday, just a few hours after it went live.

The website, hosted by Google sister company Verily Life Sciences, launched late Sunday to potentially direct a small number of patients in Northern California for viral testing. By midmorning Monday, the platform appeared to have reached capacity, with users receiving notice that no more appointments were available.

A Verily spokeswoman declined to answer questions about how many people had been connected with treatment, or when capacity would be expanded. She said in a statement, "In the first few days of this pilot, we expect appointment availability to be limited as we stand up operations and that testing capacity will increase in the days to come."

The spokeswoman added that all potential appointments require a call-back confirmation to schedule.

Like Google, Verily is a unit of Alphabet Inc.

The Trump administration, and to a lesser extent Google itself, have been promoting the launch of the website for several days. Mr. Trump said Friday that Google had assigned 1,700 employees to build a website to "very quickly" determine whether patients needed to be tested. Google didn't confirm that.

The website at launch was a fraction of what White House officials previewed. It was a tool for two counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Google is based, and only provided guidance to patients without symptoms already. If individuals inputted to the website that they had a severe fever, cough or other ailments, Verily advised that they seek medical attention on their own, rather than a screening.

The website is only available to those who read and speak English, and requires users to log in with a Google account.

Google officials have avoided contradicting the president and sought to align their efforts with the broader mission.

"We are fully aligned and continue to work with the US Government to contain the spread of COVID-19, inform citizens, and protect the health of our communities," the company said in a tweet on Friday.

In a tweet on Sunday, Mr. Trump thanked Google for launching the site and blamed the media for saying he had not been truthful.

The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment.

--Andrew Restuccia contributed to this article.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 16, 2020 15:49 ET (19:49 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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