New Covid app can detect virus from people’s voices ‘more accurately than lateral flow test’

Technology could be used in low-income countries where PCR tests are expensive

Scientists are developing a mobile phone app that “accurately” detects Covid-19 infections by analysing a person’s voice using artificial intelligence (AI).

The yet-to-be peer-reviewed research for the app, to be presented on Monday at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona, reportedly found that the AI model was accurate 89 per cent of the time, compared to lateral flow tests used for diagnosis whose accuracy varied depending on the brand.

Researchers, including those from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, said the app can be used in low-income countries where PCR tests are expensive.