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Apple (AAPL) Works With White House to Launch Coronavirus Website

Apple AAPL is currently focused on bolstering initiatives to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the iPhone-maker partnered with CDC, the White House Coronavirus Task Force and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to release a new COVID-19 website and COVID-19 app currently available on the App Store in the United States to bring in more awareness among people about the highly contagious virus.

The app and website offer information related to coronavirus symptoms, treatment, preventive remedies, CDC recommendations on next steps, including guidance on social distancing and self-isolation and also guidance on when to contact a medical provider.

Moreover, Apple’s screening tool available on the website and the app do not require a sign-in or association with a user’s Apple ID. The tool comes with user data privacy measures to keep user responses private and secure.

Notably, last week, Apple had donated 10 million protective masks to U.S. health care groups after using its supply chain team to locate and buy the masks. It also recently added answers about the virus to its Siri digital assistant.

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus
Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

Apple Inc. price-consensus-chart | Apple Inc. Quote

Virus-Led Outbreak Boosts Need for Technology in Healthcare

The coronavirus pandemic is showing no signs of letting up, with confirmed cases in the United States alone hitting 143,055 as of Mar 30, 2020. Globally, the virus is estimated to have caused over 34,041 deaths and infected nearly 724,945 people.

Recent breakthrough developments to contain the virus by developing AI-driven self-assessment tests, diagnostic kits and automation of test results to accelerate the fight against the pandemic highlight the immense scope of technology in the space.

Tech giants, including Microsoft MSFT, International Business Machines IBM and Alphabet GOOGL, backed by strength in AI, augmented & virtual Reality (AR/VR), machine learning (ML), and data analytics capabilities, are leaving no stone unturned to revolutionize the healthcare system, which is currently grappling with the coronavirus crisis.

We believe tech giants are well poised to capitalize on the emerging demand for digital overhaul of healthcare industry, triggered by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Apple Joins Other Tech Behemoths to Combat Coronavirus

Apple is part of the community of companies taking strong measures to help government and people efficiently manage this pandemic situation.

Notably, Alphabet’s Google recently launched a website in the United States, which offers information related to coronavirus symptoms, treatment and preventive remedies from the World Health Organization.

The company’s health-care division called Verily recently launched COVID-19 screening and testing website under Project Baseline.

Microsoft has unveiled a COVID-19 tracker tool that offers up-to-date infection statistics of each affected country on the tracker. Moreover, the tool provides access to various coronavirus-related articles and other information.

Meanwhile, IBM in collaboration with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Energy among others, recently announced COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium.

The consortium is aimed at bringing supercomputing power to help researchers analyze COVID-19 treatment with data-driven predictive models and devise potential cures including the development of a vaccine.

Consortium partners include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft. Moreover, federal agencies including NASA, are also part of the initiative.

Apple strives to create more awareness about the pandemic with the launch of the dedicated app and website. With the latest effort, the company aims to reduce the risk of further spread of the virus in the United States.

Currently, Apple carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All                 

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