First state launches COVID-19 contact tracing app based on Apple/Google platform

Aug 06, 2020 - 03:06 PM
COVID19 Web Sized

Virginia yesterday launched the first COVID-19 contact tracing app based on the exposure notifications system application programming interface developed by Apple and Google.

The free COVIDWISE app relies on Bluetooth technology rather than collecting users’ personal information or location data. Developers said the app can notify users if they have come in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. COVIDWISE uses random Bluetooth keys that change every 10 to 20 minutes. iOS and Android devices on which the app is installed will anonymously share these random keys if they are within close proximity for at least 15 minutes.

Each day, the device downloads a list of all random keys associated with positive COVID-19 results submitted by other app users and checks them against the list of random keys it has encountered in the last 14 days.

In the event of a match, COVIDWISE may notify the individual, taking into account the date and duration of exposure, and Bluetooth signal strength, which is used to estimate proximity.

Related News Articles

Headline
FDA announces recall of cefazolin by Sandoz for mislabeling
The Food and Drug Administration July 15 announced a recall by Sandoz on certain lots of cefazolin, due to the lots being mislabeled as penicillin G potassium…
Headline
COVID-19 vaccination approved for older adults and high-risk, younger children
 The Food and Drug Administration July 10 approved Moderna’s Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine for children under 12 with at least one underlying condition that…
Headline
OSHA proposes removing remaining requirements of its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration June 30 released a proposed rule to remove what remains of its emergency temporary standard for occupational…
Headline
RFK Jr. says CDC will no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children, pregnant women
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. May 27 announced in a post on X that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
Headline
FDA to limit COVID-19 vaccine to people over 65, others at high risk for serious illness
Leaders of the Food and Drug Administration May 20 announced new guidelines for administering the COVID-19 vaccine in a paper published by the New England…
Headline
Study finds driving with COVID-19 raises crash risk by 25%
A study published April 8 by the Public Library of Science’s Journal of Global Public Health found that driving while infected with COVID-19 raises the risk of…