在白宮舉行的新聞發佈會上，特朗普總統今天宣佈，有1,700名Google工程師正在冠狀病毒篩查站點上工作。據悉，該站點是新篩查程序的第一步，該流程將導致人們弄清楚他們的症狀是否值得對新的“開車經過”測試站進行測試。但是特朗普錯了。這個篩選網站不是由Google開發的。取而代之的是，它是由Alphabet的生命科學部門Verily建造的，並且也尚未準備就緒。
雖然兩家公司在Alphabet中共享同一個母公司，但它們是兩家截然不同的公司。此外，正如Verily在一份聲明宣佈後將近三個小時提供的聲明中指出的那樣，該網站尚未準備就緒。
“ Verily正在開發一種工具，以幫助對個人進行分類以進行COVID-19測試。該公司在聲明中說：“我們處於開發的早期階段，並計劃在海灣地區進行測試，隨著時間的推移而更廣泛地擴展。” “我們感謝政府官員和行業合作伙伴的支持，並感謝自願參與這項工作的Google工程師。”
In a press conference at the White House, President Trump today announcedthat 1,700 Google engineers were working on a coronavirus screening site. That site was supposedly the first step in a new screening process that would lead people from figuring out if their symptoms warranted more testing to the location of new “drive through” testing stations. But Trump was wrong. This screening site isn’t being developed by Google . Instead, it’s being built by Verily, Alphabet’s life science division — and it’s not ready to launch yet either.
While both share the same parent company in Alphabet, these are two very different companies. In addition, as Verily noted in a statement it provided almost three hours after Trump made the announcement, this site isn’t quite ready yet.
“Verily is developing a tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing. We are in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time,” the company said in its statement. “We appreciate the support of government officials and industry partners and thank the Google engineers who have volunteered to be part of this effort.”
白宮冠狀病毒應對協調員Debbie Birx博士在美國總統唐納德·特朗普（R）和白宮冠狀病毒特別工作組的其他成員講話時在位於玫瑰園的玫瑰園舉行的有關冠狀病毒COVID-19的新聞發佈會上講話。華盛頓特區白宮，2020年3月13日。–特朗普宣佈冠狀病毒為國家緊急狀態。 （照片由SAUL LOEB / AFP攝影）（照片由SAUL LOEB / AFP通過Getty Images攝影）
Dr. Debbie Birx, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator speaks as US President Donald Trump (R) and other members of the White House Coronavirus Task Forcee listen at a press conference on COVID-19, known as the coronavirus, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, March 13, 2020. – Trump is declaring coronavirus a national emergency. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
特別提到該網站處於“早期”階段。白宮冠狀病毒應對協調員黛比·伯克斯（Debbie Birx）以及特朗普，都沒有提到這個站點尚未準備就緒，或者只會首先在灣區推出的事實。
取而代之的是，任何觀看新聞發佈會的人肯定會覺得該網站已基本就緒，尤其是考慮到它在整個篩選過程中的關鍵作用。
“我要感謝Google。谷歌正在幫助開發一個網站，”特朗普說。 “與過去的網站不同，它將很快完成，以確定是否需要進行測試並促進在附近方便地點的測試。順便說一下，我們後面有很多地方。順便說一下，我們覆蓋了這個國家和世界大部分地區。我們現在不會談論世界，但我們涵蓋了非常非常非常大的國家。幾乎存儲在每個位置。 Google目前有1,700名工程師從事此工作。他們取得了巨大的進步。”
當Birx提出新的篩查方法時，她特別指出，該過程將從篩查網站開始。考慮到特朗普此前在新聞發佈會上發表的一些評論，一些專家認為該網站將在週日晚上準備就緒。
一位發言人說，這是Verily關於其站點計劃的聲明：“目前我可以分享的是，我們的願望是希望將Triage工具更廣泛地使用。最初，我們將其與海灣地區的多個站點進行鏈接以進行測試和迭代，並與Quest Diagnostics和LabCorp等組織密切合作，他們還在研究其他方法，以使測試在其他區域更易於訪問和便捷。”
Verily在一份與《 The Verge》不同的聲明中說，該工具最初是為醫護人員設計的，總統的宣佈將其轉變為公共場所。無論該項目的最初意圖是什麼，似乎很明顯Verily對該聲明感到有些吃驚。
現在，技術界以外的任何人都可以交替使用Alphabet和Google。不過，Verily不是Google，而Bay Area並不是整個國家。這些都是重要的事實。
Verily specifically mentions that the site is in its “early stages.” Debbie Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, as well as Trump, made no mention of the fact that this site wasn’t ready yet or that it would only roll out in the Bay Area at first.
Instead, anybody watching the press conference surely came away with the impression that the site was essentially ready, especially given its pivotal role in the overall screening process.
“I want to thank Google. Google is helping to develop a website,” Trump said. “It’s gonna be very quickly done — unlike websites of the past — to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location. We have many, many locations behind us, by the way. We cover this country and large parts of the world, by the way. We’re not gonna be talking about the world right now, but we cover very, very strongly our country. Stores in virtually every location. Google has 1,700 engineers working on this right now. They have made tremendous progress.”
Similarly, when Birx presented the new screening approach, she specifically noted that the process will start with the screening website. Given some of Trump’s earlier comments in the press conference, a number of pundits believed that the site would be ready by Sunday night.
Here is Verily’s statement about its plans for its site, according to a spokesperson: “What I can share at this time is that our aspiration is for the triage tool to be used much more broadly. Initially, we’re linking it with several sites in the Bay Area to test and iterate, and collaborating closely with organizations like Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp who are also working on additional approaches to making testing more accessible and expedient in other areas.”
In a different statement to The Verge, Verily said the tool was originally meant for healthcare workers and that the presidential announcement changed its course to becoming a public site. Whatever the original intent of the project, it seems quite clear that Verily was taken somewhat aback by the announcement.
Now, it’s not uncommon for anybody outside of the tech world to use Alphabet and Google interchangeably. Still, Verily is not Google and the Bay Area is not the whole country. Those are important facts.
傳播真實信息。
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