Albertans to get contact-tracing app for COVID cases in next few weeks
The Alberta government is working on a contact tracing app, which will alert people via Bluetooth if they’ve come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus. According to Deena Hinshaw, the provincial health minister, the service will be available very soon and can be downloaded simply from the app store.
The app will not be mandatory by any means, but it might be worth looking into? Call us trusting or too optimistic, but this actually sounds like a pretty good idea.
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We’re in the final testing phase of a new contact tracing app. This voluntary app will help speed up tracing efforts when someone tests positive. It notes if you came into contact with someone who tested positive but doesn’t track geographic location. (9/9)
— Dr. Deena Hinshaw (@CMOH_Alberta) April 23, 2020
According to Hinshaw, the app will not upload any personal data to a larger cloud. According to her, this service will not track your geographic location, and honestly, we believe that. Deena would never lie to us.
“The app will speed up information gathering to support the contact-tracing work public health workers are already doing,” she said during the press conference.
“This is simply taking our decades-old public health approach into the 21st century, and providing more efficient means for Albertans to work with public health in tracing contacts of cases.”
The Alberta governments ‘contact tracing app’ is expected to drop in the coming weeks with more details, and what we’re hoping is a detailed Steve Jobs-style “how to.” The black turtle neck is not optional!
