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WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – The Canadian province of Alberta on Friday launched the country’s first phone app to track contacts of people infected with the coronavirus, as the country slowly restarts its economy.
Increased testing and contact tracing are key parts of plans to reopen economies that have largely closed to curb the spread of the pandemic, with no vaccines or proven treatments available.
Currently, contact tracking is done manually, asking infected patients to remember who they’ve interacted with.
Alberta’s voluntary app, called ABTraceTogether, uses Bluetooth wireless technology to identify phones, which also have the app installed, that have made 2-meter contact with an infected person for at least 15 minutes in a 24-hour period.
Once a person with the app becomes infected, Alberta Health Services will ask the person to upload encrypted data that will allow tracking workers to reach other people who have been in close contact.
No geographic location data is collected, and encounter data is stored encrypted on the phones.
“The faster Alberta Health Services contact trackers can inform exposed individuals that they were close contacts, the faster we can prevent potential outbreaks,” said Alberta Medical Director of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.
Alberta became the last province this week to announce a phased plan to reopen services and businesses.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that it would be important to ensure that privacy and data security are balanced with the need to learn more about the spread of the virus. He said there are multiple proposals under development that could apply to Canada.
Privacy advocates in Britain have urged the government to prevent an app that will be released soon from becoming a form of state surveillance.
Alberta has the third highest case count in Canada (10% of the national total) and one of the most aggressive testing programs in Canada. Many of their cases are due to outbreaks in meat plants and nursing homes.
Ontario, the most populous province, is looking for options for applications, provincial health minister Christine Elliot told reporters.
The death toll in Canada rose less than 5% on Friday to 3,223 deaths, while cases rose to nearly 54,000, as daily figures continue to decline.
The province of Quebec, the epicenter of the country’s virus, said it has started increasing testing before a plan to start reopening businesses and schools this month. The tests will prioritize hospital patients with symptoms, health workers, nursing home staff and residents, said Quebec director of public health Horacio Arruda.
“The more we try, the more we find,” he told reporters.
(Report by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Leslie Adler and Cynthia Osterman edition)
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