Coronavirus Tracker: Digital Thermometer Fever Map Shows Staying At Home May Be Working
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Fever, cough, and trouble breathing are all signs of the coronavirus and now a medical technology firm is using fever trend data to predict when and where COVID-19 spikes could happen and just how well social distancing is working.
Kinsa Health produces internet-connected digital thermometers which people use to upload their body temperature to the company's centralized database. The company started tracking fevers to catch flu outbreaks in 2018 but now that technology is being used for the coronavirus pandemic.
It adapted its software to monitor "atypical fever," which doesn't follow typical influenza patterns and is thought to correlate with the surge of COVID-19 cases.
A map of the nation shows that as of Monday the number of fevers in nearly every corner of the country has fallen across the past seven days, including South Florida.
While South Florida is a dark red color, which means we have atypical, high rates of fever, it also shows some good news.
In Miami-Dade County, the illness trend is down nearly 13% from its peak on March 19.
Broward County is down by a similar rate since its peak on the same day.
Most bars and restaurants in South Florida did not start closing their dining rooms until March 18.
It's important to note that the trends in dropping fevers don't mean cases or hospitalizations will drop as quickly or even at all.
162-thousand daily temperature readings were used since COVID-19 began in the U.S.
The CDC is not commenting on the Kinsa Health fever map.