Silicon valley ramps up efforts to tackle virus

The country’s tech giants have joined with the White House in a task force to fight the new coronavirus, as Silicon Valley escalates its efforts to tackle the fast-moving pandemic, according to people familiar with the group.

The companies, including Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit, Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., on Sunday conducted a nearly hourlong meeting with White House officials, including Michael Kratsios, chief technology officer of the U.S., one of these people said. Forty-five people joined.

Among the topics: how citizens could be diagnosed without visiting a doctor, and how the companies could work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its top priorities, according to an agenda.