FDA approves emergency use of COVID screening device
Ariana Arghandewal has been writing about points and miles for almost a decade. She previously served as editor at FlyerTalk, Frugal Travel Guy and NerdWallet while running her own travel blog, PointChaser.
March 27, 2021
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2 min read
FDA approves emergency use of COVID screening device
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued emergency use authorization for a screening device that identifies biomarkers that may indicate COVID-19 infection. The Tiger Tech COVID Plus Monitor has already been utilized by homeless shelters, Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami and on high school sports teams in Las Vegas.
Harrison Wittels, Tiger Tech’s Chief Executive Officer, says: “We see this as a possible game-changer for the travel industry. It can be used on cruise ships, transportation hubs, excursions, and even in hotels. We believe our device can play a major role in allowing things to reopen quicker and, most importantly, safer.”
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How it works
The Tiger Tech COVID Plus Monitor is an armband equipped with light sensors and a small computer processor. It must be worn for 3-5 minutes, during which biometric abnormalities are checked against COVID patterns. The technology is believed to be so effective that it’s able to identify COVID in asymptomatic individuals.
Tiger Tech’s Chief Medical Officer and practicing anesthesiologist Dr. S. Howard Wittels says, “COVID-19 is causing hematological problems in patients…supportive care is being given based on the severity of a patient’s symptoms. For this reason, the sooner you can identify systemic issues, the better the chances are for a positive outcome. We believe our monitor can improve patient care and clinician safety.”
Tiger Tech hopes the COVID Plus Monitor will be widely used at schools, airports, corporate offices and on cruise lines to track the spread of COVID and facilitate a return to normalcy.
The device was tested on over 500 individuals and was deemed 98.6% accurate in correctly identifying positive cases and 94.5% accurate in correctly identifying negative ones.
Featured image by AFP via Getty Images
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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