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Coronavirus: Google Maps to track COVID-19 cases, outbreak severity

Google Maps unveiled a new layer on Wednesday dedicated to information about the novel coronavirus pandemic, most notably providing users with access to global case counts and outbreak severity by region.

“This week, we’re introducing the COVID layer in Maps, a tool that shows critical information about COVID-19 cases in an area so you can make more informed decisions about where to go and what to do,” Sujoy Banerjee, Google Maps' product manager, wrote in a blog post.

According to Forbes, the new feature will display the seven-day average for COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people for the map area a viewer selects. The tool also indicates if the rate in a given region is trending upward or downward.

The color-coded map will detail outbreak density by region, ranging from green for areas with fewer than one case per 100,000 people to dark red for areas with more than 40 cases per 100,000 people, Banerjee wrote.

The data reflected will be based on “multiple authoritative sources,” including Johns Hopkins University, The New York Times and Wikipedia, Forbes reported.

Users can access the feature on Android and iOS devices by tapping the “Layers” button and clicking “COVID-19 info,” Banerjee wrote.