Smartwatches can help detect COVID-19 long before symptoms appear

Smartwatches and other wearable devices that continuously measure users' heart rates, skin temperature and other physiological markers can help spot coronavirus infections days before an individual is diagnosed.

Devices like the Apple Watch, Garmin and Fitbit watches can predict whether an individual is positive for COVID-19 even before they are symptomatic or the virus is detectable by tests, CBS News reports, citing studies from leading medical and academic institutions, including Mount Sinai Health System in New York and Stanford University in California.

Experts said wearable technology could play a vital role in stemming the pandemic and other communicable diseases.