coronavirus

Silicon Valley Tech Signals COVID-19 Surge Has Peaked

NBC Universal, Inc. There’s some hope on the horizon when it comes to COVID cases. Over the last few days, the number of new COVID cases, as well as the positivity rate, have been dropping in California and nationwide. Scott Budman reports.

There’s some hope on the horizon when it comes to COVID cases.

Over the last few days, the number of new COVID cases, as well as the positivity rate, have been dropping in California and nationwide.

And local tech companies are giving us some clues about where we might go from here.

"People are more comfortable being out and about," said Emily Owayni, senior insight strategist at Foursquare.

The company, born in 2009 to help us find friends and businesses, is still collecting data, anonymously tracking phones that have the app and with the help of other sources, and watching where they go.

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, we've kept a really close eye on foot traffic patterns,” said Owayni.

The company can tell, even as omicron surged, we doubled our travel and dining in the last year and tripled our visits to the movies. 

"I think we're seeing that people are eager to be out and about, I think we're seeing that people are more comfortable with safety measures being taken by a lot of retailers, airports and movie theaters,” said Owayni.

And if pent-up demand is on your agenda, here's some good news.

We are turning a corner in the battle with omicron, so what does that mean? NBC Bay Area's Raj Mathai spoke to Business and Tech Reporter Scott Budman and Dr. Monica Gandhi of UCSF, for some insight.

"In California specifically it looks like it's peaked,” said Inder Singh.

The CEO of San Francisco based smart thermometer maker Kinsa, said 2.5 million internet connected thermometers show symptoms of illness dropping, especially in big cities.

"The large urban centers like San Francisco and L.A. look like they're past the peak, with the most noticeable illness decline being among adults,” said Singh.

All good signs, as tech points to a future with less COVID.

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