They're Fighting the Virus. Now, Their Own Google Doodles

Do a Google search today and you'll notice a new Google Doodle—a temporary redo of the company's logo, often used to mark holidays or commemorate important people and events—dedicated to a group that CNET calls "largely unsung heroes" in the coronavirus pandemic. Hover with your cursor over the graphic, which shows a heart bouncing over the logo toward a worker holding a mop, and a pop-up reads: "To all custodial and sanitation workers, thank you." The Doodle is part of a two-week effort to pay tribute to an even larger group. "This week, we're beginning a series of Doodles to recognize the many people responding to COVID-19—from doctors and nurses caring for people on the front lines to teachers and food service workers ensuring essential goods and services are still available," Karen DeSalvo, Google Health's chief health officer, says in a statement.

Monday's Doodle kicked off with a shoutout to public health workers and research scientists, while Tuesday's focused on doctors, nurses, and other health care personnel. On Wednesday, police officers and firefighters got the spotlight. DeSalvo's statement notes that upcoming honorees through next week will include public transit workers, educators, and and those who work in food service, among others. 9to5Google.com notes that multi-Doodle series of Google Doodles are typically used for events that stretch over multiple days, like the World Cup or Olympics. Newsweek reports that Google is lending a hand during the pandemic in other ways, too, such as providing data researchers with tens of thousands of scholarly articles on COVID-19, as well as by making datasets on the virus's movement freely available to public health officials. (More Google stories.)