Apple Watch Identifies SARS-CoV2 Infection and Predicts Diagnosis
So some big limitations, speaking as a doctor. Firstly, I'm surprised that they allowed watches on the ward. They're a huge infection risk and most places are bare below the elbows (NHS), moreso for covid. Secondly, they only looked at symptomatic covid cases (1 day before symptoms started was their prediction as far as i can tell. This is completely useless as the 24hrs before symptoms start the patient is likely to already be highly infectious, and misses the asymptomatic carriers which have an indeterminate effect on spread as well. Far better to use the semi-proven (but equally controversial) lateral flow tests and avoid these risks. In the UK, hundreds of healthcare staff have been identified as covid+ >48hrs before symptoms in this way.