PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - Facebook is teaming with Carnegie Mellon University to gather coronavirus symptom data.
CMU and the social media giant are gathering information from people in the U.S. experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Facebook users will see a link at the top of their news feed leading to an optional survey.
“We’re hoping for millions of people to take the survey each week,” said Ryan Tibshirani, associate professor of statistics and machine learning. Obtaining the help of a company such as Facebook is crucial for this endeavor, he added.
The goal is to gather data at the county level on people who have COVID-19 symptoms.
“We don’t have good data at this point regarding symptomatic infections,” explained Tibshirani, co-leader of CMU’s Delphi Research Group, one of two Influenza Forecasting Centers of Excellence designated last year by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “People have been discouraged from visiting physician offices and hospitals,” he noted. “The only way to get this is with the survey.
CMU will use the info in its pandemic forecasting efforts.
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