While fevers in parts of the Northeast look to be declining, the numbers out West are less promising, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail.
While fevers have been declining in parts of the Northeast, the numbers out West are less promising, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail.
Data suggests the West might see an uptick in COVID-19 cases, taking over the dubious distinction as U.S. hotspots for the pandemic, per the report.
The data comes from Kinsa Health "smart thermometer" readings connected to the Internet, showing fevers rising about 30-32% this week in states including Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho and Montana. Kinsa Health, based in San Francisco, collects 162,000 temperature readings from smart thermometers a day, the Mail reported.
The Kinsa Health app records the temperature data and allows users to add other symptoms. The thermometers are currently sold out, but the company is taking backorders online.
"The most important thing right now is to get more thermometers distributed so that we may improve our ability to understand where illness is starting," Kinsa spokesperson Nita Nehru wrote in an email to the Mail.
The data from a week ago might have been cause for a bit of optimism: It showed a decline in fevers in all but a handful of counties in the U.S., per the report.
"Social distancing is slowing the spread of feverish illnesses across the country," Kinsa's website read April 1. "Note: This does not mean that COVID-19 cases are declining. In fact, we expect to see reported cases continue to surge in the near term."
Kinsa is currently showing a high rate of flulike symptoms in Florida, suggesting it, too, might become one of the next COVID-19 hotspots.
The Kinsa technology is far more popular with millennials, as about 30% of users are under the age of 18. It's also in greater use in urban areas. And women use it far more than men, per the report. As a consequence, the data may be more suggestive than predictive.
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