People Are Saying Their Fitness Apps Are Letting Them Know They Might Have COVID, So Notifs On

People’s health tracking apps are letting them know that they’re showing potential COVID-19 symptoms, which makes me feel better about obsessively checking my Apple Watch.

According to a report by News.com.au, people have been alerted by their health trackers and fitness apps that they’re experiencing body irregularities like unusually high temperatures.

Sally Larson told the publication that she got a handy notif from her fertility tracking app which said her temperature was “outside of her normal range”. The app told her that she might be ill or she might’ve entered the temp incorrectly.

Her only other symptom was fatigue but she decided to take a rapid antigen test which came out positive.

Sally’s temp was under 37.5 degrees — a normal temp in medical terms but unusual for her.

“For me though, it was high. I usually have quite a low body temperature, so in terms of a classic ‘fever’ it wouldn’t have even registered if not for the app having months’ worth of data,” she said.

Right, maybe this is a sign that I should start actually using the temperature thingo on my period tracker app.

Similarly, Scott Warren was alerted by his fitness tracker app that his recovery while sleeping was down. Both his resting heart rate and his respiratory rate were also quite a lot higher than normal.

His whole family had previously tested positive to COVID and he tested positive on a PCR the day after the notification.

“The day before I tested positive, the app informed me that my recovery while sleeping was way down. I’d asked almost identical things of my body each day: similar eating patterns, no heavy drinking, no strenuous exercise,” he told News.

“The only thing different was the impact of COVID infection on my body.”

The idea of using a health app to track possible COVID symptoms actually isn’t a new one. Back in April 2021 the New Zealand Government trialled an app called ëlarm.

It hooks up to an Apple Watch or Fitbit and uses AI to track potential physiological changes that could indicate a COVID infection. The app was used by around 500 border workers for a month.

COVID isn’t the only illness which includes symptoms like a higher body temp, higher heart rate and changes to your respiratory system.

So while health data from an app can be handy (who doesn’t love figuring out their average resting heartbeat: it’s like a Myers-Briggs type) it’s definitely not a be all and end all COVID-19 diagnoser.

“While elevated heart and respiratory rates are both recognised signs of the body battling a virus, it is important to note that the Omicron variant is still relatively new, and we are still learning its intricacies,” Dr Karen Price told News.

“Remember, these apps are not a diagnostic tool and we mustn’t rely on products that are not TGA-approved. That said, it may certainly be valuable to understand more about our health through this type of data-tracking.”

So if your Apple Watch is telling you your heart rate’s a little funky, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve got the big C.

But if you’re getting weird pings from your health tracker and you have other symptoms or are feeling weird it might be a good idea to take an RAT, especially if you’ve been exposed to a COVID-19 case.

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