Seattle teenagers debut SMS text alert service for COVID-19 stats, set sights on screening tool

Two University of Washington students just released a SMS COVID-19 tracker and have plans for a coronavirus screening tool. Nikolas Ioannou and Sage Khanuja are the teenagers behind Spira, which debuted the text-based service this week. Users will receive daily coronavirus updates, including information on deaths, cases, recoveries, and even reminders for hand washing and staying home. The data comes from Worldometer, a site that pulls numbers from official government reports and reliable news sources. The young entrepreneurs are also working on a COVID-19 screening tool that encourages people who may be experiencing flu-like symptoms to answer a quick questionnaire.