Amazon has announced that it has added featuresto its Alexa voice assistant that can help usersdetermine their risk level for having contracted theCOVID-19 coronavirus. As of now all Alexa users inthe United States can ask Alexa questions like, "Alexa, what do I do if I think I have COVID-19?" or"Alexa, what do I do if I think I have coronavirus?"upon which Alexa will begin triaging them.
Once one of the above questions is asked, Alexa will ask the user about their symptoms, travelhistory, and any possible exposure they may have had to someone infected with the disease.Depending upon the user's response, Alexa will offer the user guidance that comes directlyfrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about what they should do next.
Another cool feature added to Alexa is the ability to ask the personal assistant to sing a song for20 seconds while you wash your hands. Twenty seconds is the minimum washing time withsoap and water people need to perform on their hands in order to destroy traces of the virusthey may have picked up.
Users can take advantage of Alexa's new COVID-19 features on any device Alexa runs on,including smartphones, tablets, Kindles, and more. It should also be noted that Amazon isn'tthe first to empower its voice assistant to offer CDC COVID-19 information. Earlier this weekApple pushed an update out to Siri that allows users to ask, "Hey Siri, do I have thecoronavirus?" and get advice based on CDC information.