With an increasing number of reported illnesses of COVID-19 patients increasing, researchers at King’s College London along with Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospitals have come up with ‘Covid Symptom Tracker app’. The new app is devised with an aim to help scientists track deadly disease. It also helps them identify the high-risk areas and the speed at which the virus is spreading all the while enabling them to get a better insight into why some people get more severely affected than others.
The app has initially been developed in the UK, however, it was launched in the US as well on March 26, 2019.
Features and Services
The Covid Symptom Tracker app allows people to perform a daily one-minute self-report however it does not offer any health advice or tips. One can test themselves even if he/she is in robust health and not showing any symptom such as fever or cough.
Availability and usage
Both IOS and Android users can avail the services of the app. In order to help the experts find out who is more susceptible to get infected, upon downloading the app, you will have to provide your basic information such as age, postcode and existing medical conditions (if any).
The data will “not be used for commercial purposes” and will only be shared with King’s College London, Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals and Zoe Global Limited – the brains behind the app. Currently, Covid Symptom Tracker, which was created in just three days, is the third most popular app in UK’s Apple store and second in Google Playstore’s new releases chart. The app saw almost a million downloads in just 24 hours.
