Why track your symptoms on the Canada COVID-19 App? Here are our top 3 reasons

Thrive Health has connected with thousands of Canadians who are looking for ways to support Public Health efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. Alongside wearing masks, washing hands, and maintaining physical distance, tracking your symptoms daily on the Canada COVID-19 App is an important action Canadians can take to help researchers collect important data to support the pandemic response.

Here are Thrive’s top three reasons why daily symptom tracking on the Canada COVID-19 App should be a regular part of your efforts to stay healthy and support Public Health.

1. Symptom Data provides Public Health with predictive capabilities to identify potential COVID-19 outbreaks.

Data collected in the Symptom Tracker provides Public Health with a real-time indicator of how symptoms are evolving in different regions. Because this data appears in real-time, researchers are able to identify where new COVID-19 clusters could potentially emerge. By monitoring increases in COVID-19-like symptoms, local health authorities can target their resources depending on where an outbreak might happen, or which demographic it might happen to.

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2. Users who track their symptoms on the Canada COVID-19 App receive tailored next steps and recommendations aligned with Public Health guidelines.

When users complete a check-in on the Symptom Tracker, they are given recommended next steps - ie. self-isolation, continued monitoring, getting a COVID-19 test - based on the symptoms they report.  The Canada COVID-19 App was designed as a central resource for  Canadians to access consistently updated information around their province or territory’s pandemic response, and recommendations from symptom tracking are a key way in which that information is administered.  Because the Canada COVID-19 app is developed in partnership with  Health Canada, all information available to users comes from the most trusted government resources and includes the latest epidemiological findings.

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3. Opting in to share additional demographic data further supports Public Health’s understanding of how and where symptoms occur, informing immunization development & planning.

When users first open the Canada COVID-19 App, they have the option to share some additional demographic information alongside which province or territory they live in - such as age, sex at birth, and comorbidities. Users do not have to share demographic data in order to use the symptom tracker, however, this additional information gives Public Health researchers further insight into the rate at which certain populations are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms - an important consideration when developing a vaccine and prioritizing who should receive it earliest.

Even if you feel healthy, tracking your symptoms daily on the Canada COVID-19 App keeps Public Health informed on the likelihood of COVID-19 outbreaks in your community, as well as how symptoms are evolving. All information shared is strictly voluntary, and all app user data is anonymized by default.

About the Canada COVID-19 App

Canada COVID-19 App was launched in March 2020 by Thrive Health and Health Canada. To date, Thrive Health’s COVID-19 platform has provided over 10 million COVID-19 risk assessments across the country.

To learn more about Thrive Health and how our digital platform can support your organization, connect with us.