Apple Updates Siri With Coronavirus Screening Test

Mar. 23, 2020

Apple has updated its Siri voice assistant with a coronavirus fact-sheet, enabling the software to act as an initial screening tool for people worried about whether they have contracted the virus. As of Sunday night, asking Siri“Do I have coronavirus”will prompt the software to take the user through a series of questions about their symptoms in a bid to check whether the person may have contracted the disease or not.

Based on the answers, Siri will tell the user to either contact a medical professional or quarantine themselves and monitor their health for a period of time. In countries like the US, Siri will also point users to mobile apps that can help connect users to a health provider in their locality. All of the information it provides comes from America’s premier national public health institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In India, the assistant simply points the user to the website for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Tech companies like Google, Facebook,Netflixand their various subsidiaries, have been doing their bit in thefight against COVID-19bydonating generously to causeand in many cases,creating dedicated coronavirus hubson their websites to help people out with their queries about the pandemic. You can also get a full lowdown on COVID-19 from theofficial WHO website.

Image Courtesy: LifeHacker

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