A new app can supposedly detect COVID-19 by just listening to a cough

It’s often lost under headlines about European conflicts and upcoming elections, but we’re still very much in the middle of a pandemic.

That’s why it’s such exciting news that there’s a new app that supposedly can detect COVID-19 just through your phones microphone. It’s also the creation of a Brisbane start-up.

ResApp promises that their app can diagnose the virus by simply listening to the sound of a person’s cough. While that doesn’t sound like a lot on paper, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has been impressed enough to launch a $100 million takeover of the Queensland company.

The app is based off research that shows the sound profile of coughs contain information that can be used to help identify its cause. According to ResApp’s website, this sound profile is less “compromised” than what a doctor would normally hear by using a stethoscope as it doesn’t have to travel through a patient’s chest.

If this app truly works, it’ll be the most-used app since the halcyon days of Candy Crush. ResApp states that their creation can detect COVID accurately in 92% of infected people, a figure which puts its accuracy above many rapid antigen tests. And the potential benefits are numerous – a handy COVID detection app definitely would definitely reduce the strain on healthcare services and lead to less people seeking out RATs.

However, the CEO of ResApp, Tony Keating, has been quick to make sure people know that the app won’t be able to complete replace other tests. “Basically the way we’ve designed the test is that if it says ‘No’ and you don’t have Covid, you don’t have to do a RAT or a PCR test,” he told The Australian. “But if it says ‘Yes’ then you go down the normal path of testing.”

Pfizer Holdings has agreed to purchase every ResApp share at $0.111 per stock, with the blockbuster deal now just waiting on court and shareholder approval.