The Google Weather Frog has discarded its COVID-19 mask
Google’sWeather Frogis the company’s weather widget mascot. The frog can be seen when users type “weather” into their phone’s Google search bar. Froggy, as he is popularly known, has also appeared in multiple doodles that celebrate anniversaries or historical events. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, theweatherfrog began to appear with a mask covering its face. It was a subtle reminder to users to take necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. After nearly two years, Froggy now appears in the widget, albeit without a mask.
9to5Googlefirst reported on these changes, which began appearing at the start of this week. Until last week, the lone frog would appear on the widget wearing differently-designed cloth masks in different locations. It could be seen performing an outdoor activity in the widget based on the real-time weather situation in a location. However, the face mask began to disappear on the Weather Frog in specific locations at the beginning of this week. By mid-week, Froggy’s mask had disappeared entirely while tracking weather conditions in major cities worldwide, including Toronto, Buenos Aires, Mumbai, and Lisbon.
The change in the frog’s appearance reflects the easing of travel restrictions worldwide. Most countries have relaxed COVID restrictions from their height, despite the emergence of the Omicron variant. Similarly, pre-travel testing has been dropped in many countries of Southeast Asia, as tourism rates in the region havereturned to pre-COVID levels. However, while the spread of the virus has reduced, it has not disappeared by any means, withnearly a million new casesoccurring globally only in the past 24 hours.
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