Skip to main content

Millions of people have used this app to log their COVID-19 symptoms — and data suggests the set of symptoms governments initially warned about was too narrow

* Nearly 3.5 million people are using an app daily to report whether they're experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. * The Covid Symptom Tracker app, built by researchers at King's College London and analytics company Zoe Global, provides real-time data that could help lawmakers decide how to reopen countries in the coming months. * App data suggests that the symptoms health authorities first described as typical of the virus — fever and cough — were too narrow, leaving out as many as half of COVID-19 patients who never experienced those symptoms.  * Rather, loss of taste and smell is the strongest predictor of whether someone will develop more severe COVID-19 symptoms, according to the data. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. As governments prepare to lift COVID-19 lockdowns across the globe, real-time data from an app with millions of users could provide a critical tool to help policymakers understand the spread of the virus. Nearly 3.5 million people have been using the Covid Symptom Tracker app to report whether they're experiencing any symptoms associated with COVID-19. The data shines a light on when the number of people experiencing symptoms peaked, the locations of major outbreaks, and which symptoms appear the most common. The app was created by King's College London and health analytics company Zoe Global, which herald it as the "biggest citizen science project in health that we have ever seen anywhere in the world." It has 3.1 million users in the UK and is now gaining steam in the US, where more than 200,000 people have downloaded it. Data from the app is already poking holes in some early assumptions about the virus. As recently as a month ago, many health authorities were warning that fever and a cough were the most common symptoms — but app data suggests that roughly half of those infected never experienced those symptoms. The CDC added six more symptoms, including chills, muscle pain, headache, and loss of taste and smell to its COVID-19 page earlier this week. The loss of taste and smell appears to be the clearest indicator that someone may develop more severe COVID-19 symptoms later on, researchers working on the app told The Wall Street Journal. In the UK, the number of people reporting COVID-19 symptoms peaked around April 1 and has steadily declined since, according to app data. The country entered lockdown a week prior to the peak. The data has some shortcomings — including the fact that people over 70, who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, are less likely to own a smartphone — but researchers are building algorithms to make data from the app more reliable. The app automatically compares symptoms that users report to baseline data from 30,000 confirmed COVID-19 patients to create a baseline, and researchers told WSJ they're confident at least two-thirds of the data is accurate. Other tech companies have embarked on similar data-gathering missions. Facebook launched a COVID-19 symptom tracker last week, which will similarly aim to provide health authorities with broad trends on symptoms being reported across the globe. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: A cleaning expert reveals her 3-step method for cleaning your entire home quickly
https://bit.ly/3aVpcjR

Popular posts from this blog

SpaceX has a 'go' from NASA to return 2 astronauts to Earth on Sunday as Hurricane Isaias threatens several Florida splashdown locations

* NASA on Saturday gave SpaceX a "go" to undock the company's first crewed space mission, called Demo-2, and land it on Sunday evening. * Hurricane Isaias complicated original plans to return two astronauts to Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship in the Atlantic Ocean. * Elon Musk's aerospace company may now try to splash down NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in the Gulf of Mexico. * Two out of seven total landing sites near Florida must have good weather conditions, and NASA has until about 5 p.m. ET on Saturday to call off the undocking. * Should the weather worsen, NASA and SpaceX can try again a day later or some other date over the next two months. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have a "go" to return to Earth this weekend and wrap up an historic space mission for both NASA and SpaceX.  Behnken and Hurley launched to orbit aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehic...

What an independent contractor actually is and how it's classified under California's Assembly Bill 5, the gig worker law Uber, Lyft, and others are fighting with a November ballot measure

* California's Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) went into effect in January, adopting a narrow definition of independent contractor that forces Uber and other gig economy businesses to choose between reclassifying workers as employees or risking significant liability for misclassification. * The law serves as a reminder to California businesses to be careful when classifying workers as contractors.  * Classifying independent contractors falls into two main categories: the "right to control" test (often called the "IRS test") and the tougher "ABC test" recently adopted in AB5. * Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have recently poured $30 million into Proposition 22 — a ballot measure intended to exempt major ridesharing and food delivery companies from AB5. If California residents vote the measure into effect in November, Uber and Lyft can continue classifying drivers as contractors.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In September 2019, Californ...

PayPal parts with top advertising executive after shifting its marketing strategy during the pandemic

* PayPal's chief creative officer Steve Simpson, its top advertising executive, left the company after about a year. * The move came after PayPal shifted its marketing strategy during the coronavirus pandemic, placing less emphasis on the brand and more on catering to small businesses, said a source with direct knowledge of the marketing operation. * Simpson's departure followed that of CMO and former Apple executive Allison Johnson in May. Both "decided to leave PayPal" as the company streamlines its global marketing functions, according to a PayPal spokeswoman. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. PayPal's highest-ranking ad executive Steve Simpson left earlier this month after just over a year as part of a restructuring of its global marketing business. Simpson, who was chief creative officer, was hired to make high-minded ad campaigns to help PayPal stand out from competitors like Square, Stripe, and Apple Pay. But this strategy chan...