As Innovative Contact Tracing Apps Emerge, Privacy And Accuracy Pitfalls Could Thwart Efforts
In addition to privacy concerns, experts say that smartphone-based contact tracing could miss low-income populations who are some of the most vulnerable in the pandemic. Meanwhile, at a congressional hearing, CDC Director Robert Redfield emphasized the need for building up an army of contact tracers.
The New York Times:
Contact Tracing With Your Phone: It’s Easier But There Are Tradeoffs
The handshake came first. Then the high-five, fist bump and more recently, the elbow touch. Canadian researchers are now working on a new greeting, the CanShake. It is not a mere salutation. The CanShake — which involves people shaking their phones at each other upon meeting to transmit contact information — is one of many emerging concepts seeking to use smartphones to do mass contact tracing to track and contain the spread of Covid-19. All involve harnessing common consumer technology to log people’s location or movements and match it against the location of people known to be sick. (Richtel, 6/3)
The Hill:
CDC Director: US Needs Up To 100,000 Contact Tracers By September To Fight Coronavirus
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield told Congress on Thursday that the country needs between 30,000 and 100,000 people working on contact tracing in order to help contain the next wave of the coronavirus. The estimate shows the daunting challenge of hiring an army of people to interview those infected with coronavirus to identify who they have been in contact with so that those people can quarantine and help prevent the spread of the virus. (Sullivan, 6/4)
The Baltimore Sun:
Baltimore To Run Independent Contact Tracing Program With Funds From Pepsi, Rockefeller Foundation
Baltimore is launching a coronavirus contact tracing operation separate from the state that will employ up to 300 individuals who have lost work due to the pandemic, officials announced Thursday. The $12 million public-private program — supported by the mayor’s office, Baltimore Civic Fund, Baltimore Corps and a host of foundations and corporations including the Rockefeller Foundation, PepsiCo and CareFirst — will train case investigators in contact tracing, health education outreach and care coordination, said Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young at a news conference at the city’s War Memorial. (Miller, 6/4)
Reuters:
Singapore Plans Wearable Virus Contact Tracing Device For All
Singapore plans to give a wearable device that will identify people who had interacted with carriers of coronavirus to all of its 5.7 million residents, in what could become one of the most comprehensive contact tracing efforts globally. The small device, which can be worn on the end of a lanyard or carried in a handbag, follows glitches with an earlier smartphone-based bluetooth system which limited take up of the technology. (Geddie and Aravindan, 6/5)
Reuters:
Europe Pins Hopes On Smarter Coronavirus Contact Tracing Apps
European countries cautiously emerging from the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic are looking to a second generation of contact tracing apps to help contain further outbreaks. (Busvine, 6/4)
And in testing news —
The Wall Street Journal:
Coronavirus Antibody Tests: Facts, Myths And Everything You Need To Know
The clamor for antibody tests is mounting. The blood tests are designed to detect whether people have been previously infected with the coronavirus and have developed antibodies to it. People who were sick but never got a Covid-19 test want to see if they did have the virus—in hopes that they may have some protection from future infection. Public health authorities are deploying the tests to help determine how widely the virus has spread. And businesses and governments hope the tests can help open up the economy and get employees back to the workplace. (Reddy, 6/4)
