We tried out online symptom checkers for Covid-19. We’re not impressed

It seems like a good idea. Enter your symptoms online and let a chatbot tell you if you should seek medical care for what you worry might be Covid-19. So STAT’s Casey Ross (who is not ill) drilled eight chatbots on a common set of symptoms — fever, sore throat, runny nose — to assess how they worked and the consistency and clarity of their advice. What he got back was a conflicting, sometimes confusing patchwork of information about the level of risk posed by these symptoms and what he should do about them. And that’s not trivial: Putting out conflicting information in the middle of a public health crisis can result in severe consequences, an expert told him. Here’s more.