Contact Tracing Apps Are on the Way. Will They Help Us Get Back to Normal?
With Apple and Google announcing more details for their exposure notification API, it’s clear coronavirus contact tracing apps are coming. But it’s not clear people will use them.
By Steven Melendez
As the United States looks to slowly return to something resembling life before the coronavirus pandemic, officials and researchers have been considering ways to continue reducing the spread of COVID-19.
One potential tool is what’s known as contact tracing — determining who was in contact with someone who has the virus, and then notifying them that they’ve been exposed. That lets people who might be infected take precautions such as quarantining themselves until they test negative or recover, which can reduce the risk of spreading the virus. Already, health agencies in states including California, Massachusetts, Illinois, and New York have announced plans to deploy potentially unprecedented numbers of human contact tracers. These employees would interview people who have the virus and warn their contacts to isolate themselves and consider medical attention as appropriate.
