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  Wearables Like the Apple Watch Show Promise in Detecting COVID-19 Infections

   Josh Centers

   The Washington Post reports that a pair of preliminary studies have
   found that [1]wearable health trackers like the Apple Watch can detect
   coronavirus symptoms days before their wearers realize they're sick.
   Stanford University researchers found that heart rate changes let them
   detect coronavirus infection in 11 out of 14 patients in their study,
   sometimes even before there was an official diagnosis.

   The real star of these studies wasn't the Apple Watch, but the Oura
   health-tracking ring, which can detect heart rate, breathing, and body
   temperature. Researchers at WVU's Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute
   found that the Oura ring enabled them to predict COVID-19 infections up
   to three days before symptoms appeared, when the virus is most
   infectious.

   If you own an Apple Watch or other health tracker that integrates with
   Apple Health, and you'd like to participate in the studies, the
   [2]Scripps Research DETECT Study has an open call for volunteers'you
   just need to [3]install the MyDataHelps app. [4]Stanford's study is
   also looking for participants, supporting the Apple Watch and other
   health trackers, though they're looking for people with a higher risk
   of COVID-19 exposure.

   While wearable health-trackers show promise in tracking and hopefully
   controlling COVID-19, these studies also demonstrate areas in which the
   Apple Watch could improve. Future Apple Watch generations would benefit
   from built-in body temperature and blood oxygen measurements. Low blood
   oxygen levels are a key indicator of COVID-19 infection, and those
   infected often have [5]low blood oxygen levels without even realizing
   it. Sadly, the Apple Watch already has the capability to measure your
   blood oxygen levels, but the [6]US Food and Drug Administration hasn't
   let Apple enable it.

   [7]Read original article

References

   Visible links
   1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/28/wearable-coronavirus-detect/
   2. https://detectstudy.org/?itid=lb_join-a-covid-19-wearable-study_2
   3. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mydatahelps/id1286789190
   4. https://innovations.stanford.edu/wearables?itid=lb_join-a-covid-19-wearable-study_3
   5. https://www.livescience.com/silent-hypoxia-killing-covid-19-coronavirus-patients.html
   6. https://www.city-journal.org/fda-blocks-apple-watch-blood-oxygen-feature
   7. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/28/wearable-coronavirus-detect/

   Hidden links:
   8. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2020/06/Apple-Watch-heart-rate.png

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