As states across the US continue to see a decrease in fevers during the coronavirus pandemic, Florida and Maine are seeing upticks.
Kinsa Health, a medical technology company based in San Francisco, has been tracking daily fever readings using data from smart thermometers connected to the Internet.
According to one of Kinsa’s maps, which tracks ‘atypical’ illnesses, most counties across the nation are colored yellow, orange or burnt orange to indicate low, mild or moderate rates of illness, respectively.
But Florida is the only state to have counties colored red, which indicates ‘high’ rates of atypical illnesses.
It comes on the heels of the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, issuing an order for all residents to stay home after weeks of pushback.
In addition, on a map showing whether illnesses have been increasing or decreasing over the past week, almost every county indicates a decrease – except in Maine, where the majority of counties show an increase.
A map of daily temperature readings show high rates of flu-like illnesses in Florida compared to the rest of the US (above)
While fevers are decreasing in most parts of the country, they are increasing in Maine, which has some of the lowest overall coronavirus cases (above)
Most counties in most states have ‘low’, ‘mild’, or ‘moderate’ rates of illness, but Florida is the only state with counties colored red showing ‘high’ rates of flu-like illnesses. Pictured: Florida National Guardsmen walk past nurses gathering before the start of testing for COVID-19 at the Orange County Convention Center, in Orlando, April 1
Kinsa has distributed more than one million thermometers and get about 162,000 temperature readings a day.
The thermometers upload the temperatures to a database (similar to Apple iCloud) and users can add other symptoms into an app.
Prior to using the tool to track COVID-19, Kinsa’s tool has mostly been used to track where seasonal flu outbreaks are occurring.
Traditionally, the company’s predictions have been two or three weeks ahead of those compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With the coronavirus pandemic a new feature has been added to the map, which the company calls ‘atypical’ illnesses.
This tracks illnesses that don’t match up with typical flu patterns and are likely due to the novel coronavirus.
Influenza-like illness levels are depicted in orange and red and where they are expected to be depicted in blue.
Most counties in most states have ‘low’, ‘mild’, or ‘moderate’ rates of illness.
But Florida is the only state with counties colored red showing ‘high’ rates of flu-like illnesses including Orange County, Palm Beach County, Broward County and Miami-Dade County.
Experts have suggested that the Sunshine State is on track to become the next coronavirus epicenter in the US.
With millions of Americans heading down south to escape winter or for spring break – and drive-thru testing sites running out of kits – it could be a perfect storm for a rise in infections.
What’s more, nearly four million senior citizens live in Florida, a huge concern considering the elderly are the most vulnerable to contract the virus.
The new data comes on the heels of the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, issuing an order for all residents to stay home after weeks of pushback. Pictured: DeSantis attends a news conference in the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot in Miami Gardens, March 30
There have been fears that Florida will be come the next coronavirus epicenter in the US due to its large elderly population and the number of Americans who headed there to escape the winter or for Spring Break. Pictured: Beach access in Fort Myers is closed off to the public due to COVID-19, March 29
The increase in fevers is surprising in Maine because the state has only reported 344 cases and seven deaths, some of the lowest numbers in the country. Pictured: Karen Haley cuts cotton fabric for masks to be given to caregivers at the North Sails shop in Freeport, Maine, March 23
Additionally, earlier this week, fevers across the nation were dropping except for a county here and there.
In fact, fevers are about 63 percent lower than expected at this time of year. Only about 1.14 percent have temperatures above 99F.
‘Social distancing is slowing the spread of feverish illnesses across the country,’ Kinsa wrote on its website on 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.’
But today, on April 2, half of counties in Maine were shaded in yellow, depicting fevers increasing by a small percentage.
Fevers increased anywhere from 1.8 percent and 2.5 percent – surprising because the state has only reported 344 cases and seven deaths, some of the lowest numbers in the country.
But there is some good news. Most states showed a downward trend, which was signified in four shades of blue – light blue depicting fevers dropping by a small percentage and dark blue a large percentage.
Particularly the West – aside from California, Oregon and central Washington – saw the biggest drops, by as much as 20 percent in some counties.
The Midwest – Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin – also showed similar decreases.
‘As specific diagnostic testing ramps us slowly, we’re going to have to come up with other methods to figure out where [the virus is] spreading,’ Dr Peter J Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, told DailyMail.com on Tuesday.
‘I think [this] is a great method and it’s very robust technology.’
