Stay Home, Save Lives: Google doodle urges people to follow coronavirus rules

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Today’s Google doodle is dedicated to spreading the message of social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

The doodle published 4 April is combined with the tagline: “Stay Home. Save Lives”.

In the doodle, each letter is drawn engaging in a different activity indoors, with the first ‘G’ reading a book and the two ‘O’s playing guitar and signing together in their shared home.

The ‘L’ exercises indoors, as the second ‘G’ and ‘E’ talk to each other on the phone.

Underneath the doodle, Google advise that “as Covid-19 continues to impact communities around the world, help stop the spread by following these steps”.

It links to a dedicated page that advises: “Everyone must stay at home to help stop coronavirus (Covid-19) spreading. Wash your hands with soap and water often to reduce the risk of infection”.

The page lists rules for how to act during the pandemic, such as washing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds and only shopping for basic necessities.

“Even when doing these activities, you should minimise time spent outside of the home and ensure you are 2 metres apart from anyone outside of your household,” the page reads.

It also includes an interactive map, showing the number of coronavirus cases worldwide and in each country.

Americans have been advised to stay indoors to help prevent the spread of the virus, but so far only five states have implemented stay-at-home orders.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the chief infectious disease expert leading the US response, says he doesn’t understand why more isn’t being done to prevent further outbreaks.

Mr Fauci told CNN: “You know, the tension between federally mandated versus states’ rights to do what they want is something I don’t want to get into ... But if you look at what’s going on in this country, I just don’t understand why we’re not doing that.”

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, upwards of 258,214 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 6,605.