Erin Bodwin makes the case in Stat News that wearable health technology offers a benefit most people might not appreciate–it could detect a COVID-19 infection before you have symptoms. In essence, wearables can see small changes in your metabolism before you experience them.
So, if you have an Apple watch, a Fitbit, an Oura smart ring, or some other wearable health technology, three independent studies show that you might have a warning sign that you are infected with COVID-19 even if you don’t feel sick. Your wearable will likely see that your heart rate is rising or your temperature has gone up. Those are indicators that you could be sick.
Each study is looking at a person’s biometrics, including level of activity, sleep, temperature and heart rate. One study of 65,000 participants found that the Oura ring has a 76 percent chance of finding the virus three days before the wearer feels ill.
Another study of 5,000 people identified the COVID-19 virus early about two out of three times, as long as seven days before the wearer experienced symptoms.
The third study of 31,000 patients was able to identify COVID early, about 80 percent of the time. It looked at biometrics from the wearables as well as self-reported symptoms.
So far, there is no special feature on wearables to detect the novel coronavirus. And, it might not be available for some time. The manufacturers want to ensure that people do not experience a large number of false-positives.
Here’s more from Just Care:
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