Researchers at Florida State University equipped 113 NCAA Division I student-athletes with WHOOP bands, a wearable device that uses optical sensors, to detect Covid-19. They observed how the student-athletes’ metrics changed in the days leading up to a positive COVID-19 test and the results were promising.
The WHOOP band monitoring allowed the researchers to establish baseline levels for heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate (RHR), respiratory rate (RR) and recovery. Researchers observed how the student-athletes’ metrics changed in the days leading up to a positive COVID-19 test and saw that respiratory rate increased three days before a positive test.
Of the student-athletes monitored, 33 eventually tested positive for COVID.
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