Apple on Friday released a website and an iOS app that allows users to screen themselves for coronavirus symptoms, marking another response to the pandemic by a major tech platform. Both tools were developed in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Apple said in a statement to CNN Business. The app and website include a questionnaire and information about the novel coronavirus. Apple said it will not collect or store users’ answers to the questionnaire, though it will collect anonymous information about the usage of the tools. The screening tools do not require an Apple account to use, the company said.
Friday’s announcement follows statements by CEO Tim Cook that Apple will be donating 10 million face masks across Europe and the United States.”Our ops teams are helping to find and purchase masks from our supply chain in coordination with governments around the world,” Cook tweeted this week. It also comes on the heels of a nationwide website launched by Google last week to provide users with information about the coronavirus. The website was expected to add links to a CDC screening tool when it became available; a Google spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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