Microsoft launches Bing Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tracker
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is wreaking havoc across the globe, infecting people on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. Whether or not the disease is serious or not seems to depend on the infected's age and other underlying medical conditions, but still, people are hoarding food and supplies as if it were the apocalypse.
So, why are people panicking? Well, there are many reasons, but a big one is misinformation. Sadly, the internet is full of fake data and mistruths, causing people to worry. Since so much misleading information is on social media, people have no idea where to turn for reliable data. Microsoft is hoping to provide truthful information with an all-new Bing Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tracker.
Yes, the search engine (that people love to hate) has a new landing page regarding COVID-19. You can simply visit https://www.bing.com/covid to see real-time tracking of Coronavirus across the globe. Microsoft shares that this data is being aggregated from the CDC, ECDC, Wikipedia, and The World Health Organization. In other words, this new tool is thankfully using more than one data source.
On the left, it is sorted by country, descending based on number of cases. Clicking on the country name will reveal relevant news stories, plus the ability to drill down further based on region. When you click on United States, for instance, you can then choose a specific state, such as New York or California, to see even more localized news.
The Microsoft Bing Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tracker can be accessed on both desktop and mobile, and should regularly update as new data comes in. If you decide to try it, I ask that you please tell me your thoughts in the comments below.
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