With new coronavirus tracker, Apple and Google may finally get their big break in health care

A woman wearing a mask and gloves tries to use her cellphone on April 22, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York City.

For years, Apple and Google have dreamed of breaking into the enormous market for personal health. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said he wants health tech to be considered Apple's "greatest contribution" to humanity, and sought clearance from the Food and Drug Administration so that the latest Apple Watches can monitor your heart rhythm. Google has poured hundreds of millions into research on aging, cancer and neuroscience. Both have acquired health startups, and poached health executives.

But perhaps no effort may give the companies as much of a foothold in the trillion-dollar health care industry as their joint plan, announced earlier this month, to track the spread of coronavirus.

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