Former AIG head and risk expert pushes coronavirus sniff test
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Can the same program that once helped the banking system navigate risks assist the world in tracking coronavirus at a time of limited medical testing for COVID-19?
Peter Hancock, American International Group Inc.’s former CEO and risk manager, seems to think so, and is pushing a new website and nonprofit www.sniffoutcovid.org to better help gather numbers on who actually has COVID-19, as medical experts reveal that certain people will show no symptoms of the virus that has virtually shut down major cities around the world.
According to the site, research by two British ear, nose and throat doctors found that up to 80% of people who test positive for coronavirus lose their sense of smell, and some can remain asymptomatic otherwise. The approach is simple, as the site reveals: lost your sense of smell? You might have the virus. Now, quarantine yourself, tell us about it and let’s track it.
Mr. Hancock, JPMorgan Chase’s former risk manager who established a similar, simple way for banking industry risk managers to share data of emerging risks, says the same principle can work for COVID-19. He’s now working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers, among other developers, to help create a program to track the self-reported figures.
More insurance and risk management news on the coronavirus crisis here.
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