Facebook launching coronavirus info portal

Facebook is placing a center for information about the coronavirus on top of users’ news feeds to centralize vetted information and health tips as the pandemic spreads.

The feature will be available in the United States, Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom in the next 24 hours, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday in a call with reporters.

The center will contain information from sources such as the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which the platform had already been promoting within the news feed itself.

“The top priority and focus for us has been making sure people can get access to good authoritative information from trusted health sources,” Zuckerberg said.

In the U.S., users will also have access to features aimed at connecting them with help or ways to offer it in their communities.

“We’ve had a Community Help feature that we’ve rolled out in other disasters in the past, like if there’s a hurricane,” Zuckerberg explained. “We’ve never had to do it at a scale that we’re talking about doing here for everyone basically across the whole community at the same time, but we’re going to move forward with that in the next few days as well.” 

Facebook is also offering government agencies and emergency services free access to the platform’s online work program, Workplace Advanced, for 12 months.