Apple launches website and app to provide screening tool for COVID-19

Apple Inc. launched a new COVID-19 website and app to provide a screening tool for coronavirus symptoms as the cases around the world continue to rise. Apple launched the website and app which also provides the latest information about the coronavirus outbreak, in partnership with the White House and US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the website, the COVID-19 screening tool helps you understand what to do next about COVID-19. After clicking on ‘Start Screening’ button, the website asks you to answer a few questions about symptoms, travel, and contact you have had with others. The website claims that the answers will not be shared with Apple or the CDC without the permission of the user.

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The tool starts with two options of ‘Use for Myself’ and ‘Use for Someone Else’. Ahead of the questionnaire,it asks you to stop and call 911 if you have any of the symptoms that include constant chest pain or pressure, extreme difficulty breathing, severe, constant dizziness or lightheadedness, slurred speech or difficulty waking up.

In case you don’t display any of the symptoms mentioned, it asks whether you are under the age of 18, or between 18 and 64, or 65 and older. Then it asks about other symptoms, underlying medical conditions, international travel history and domestic visits in areas where the COVID-19 cases are widespread.

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Not for detection

Apple launched the screening tool amid the continuous rise in coronavirus cases across the world with the United States reporting the most number of cases. The website provides suggestions based on the answers and in no ways meant to detect the disease. For detection purposes, a US-based laboratory recently received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for molecular point-of-care test. After the approval, Abbott laboratories has launched its molecular point-of-care test that delivers positive COVID-19 results in as little as 5 minutes and negative results in 13 minutes.

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(Image credit: Apple)