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First US app using Apple-Google coronavirus notification technology

 


The German coronavirus contact tracing app, Corona-Warn, is displayed on an iPhone in Berlin on Tuesday, June 16, 2020.

Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Virginia coronavirus notification app, called Covidwise, launched on Wednesday, just under four months after the Apple-Google partnership was announced.

Virginia is the first state in the United States to use Apple-Google technology built into iPhones and Android phones. Exposure notification technology and contact tracing apps were once heralded as a critical part of some countries’ strategies to lift their lockdowns, but low adoption and uncertain effectiveness in some countries have dampened enthusiasm. for applications.

Virginia’s app, like all apps using the Apple-Google framework, uses Bluetooth signals on a smartphone to determine how close and for how long two phones were nearby, without collecting the location of the contact or the user identity. Then, if any of the phone users were to test positive for Covid-19, the system is able to notify all other phones with the app that they may have been exposed to the virus via a push notification and tell them to get tested or quarantined.

“For the purposes of this app, it wasn’t absolutely necessary to know where you are or who you are,” Jeff Stover, director of the Virginia Department of Health, said on a video call with reporters. “The most important thing was that you know if you’ve been exposed or not, and that we can all take steps to do the necessary prevention.”

When users test positive for Covid-19, they are given a six-digit PIN provided by the Virginia Department of Health that they can enter into their app. Once this six-digit PIN code is entered, the Virginia system tells other phones with the app that they were close to someone who tested positive and were likely exposed. This information is provided in a push notification from the Covidwise application. The Apple-Google system does this by deciphering the random keys that correspond to when the phones were near each other.

The Virginia Covidwise app requires a 6-digit PIN code to confirm a positive test result.

Screenshot / CNBC

The app was not designed by Apple or Google, the two tech giants have integrated software into iOS and Android to make this possible. Virginia paid SpringML $ 229,000 to develop the Covidwise app, and she was funded by the CARES Act, Stover said.

Other US states have released similar apps, but some of them, like Utah, have used a location-based approach instead of the Apple-Google system, which forces apps that use it to avoid GPS and emphasizes anonymity. Apple and Google have also said they will shut down the system once the pandemic is over.

One of the most successful exhibition notification apps using the Apple-Google system is in Germany. The app, called Corona-Warn-App, was downloaded more than 16 million times at the end of July on a population of 82 million, according to the BBC. In France, which used a different Bluetooth system not supported by the tech giants, only 14 people were notified using the app in the first three weeks.

One problem with apps is that they will need to be installed by a large percentage of the population to function effectively if a phone is not running the app then it will be missing potential exposures. A study by researchers at the University of Oxford suggested that 60% of the population would need to install an exposure notification app to remove the virus.

“The way you want to describe it will be effective. But they also state in the [Oxford] study that they estimate that for every one to two users of the app, you will potentially reduce the infection by one, ”Stover said.

Virginia plans to advertise the app on billboards, digital ads, and through partnerships with schools and workplaces, and Google has offered advertising credits for its search engine and its Google Play app store, officials said.

Google said in a blog post last week that 20 states and territories are “exploring” applications based on the system. Although the app works outside of Virginia, positive tests require a six-digit pin from the Virginia Department of Health to notify others, limiting its scope.

There is no plan for a national coronavirus exposure enforcement, but officials in Virginia have said the state is likely to participate in a program to create a “national key server” that would allow applications from different states to work together.

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