California Launches Covid-19 Contact Tracing App From Apple, Google

Topline

California launched a statewide contact tracing app Monday—making it the largest state to adopt a contact tracing app using technology from Apple and Google— but experts warn that getting enough people to use similar apps across the country has been a challenge.

Key Facts

Crucial Quote

“I’m very sober about the adoption rates. I don’t expect tens of millions of people, quite the contrary. We’re hoping that they’ll be enough to make this meaningful, but Apple and Google will also be helping that promotion,” Newsom said.

Key Background

Contact tracing—identifying and isolating infected people and their contacts—is becoming an increasingly strained process as local health departments become overwhelmed with coronavirus surges. Public health experts say contact tracing apps can take some of the burden off of human contact tracers, but only 21 states have launched their own contact tracing apps so far. And even in states with their own apps, getting enough people to download it has been an obstacle in making them truly effective. In Virginia, for example, which was one of the first state’s to create its own app, only 11% of the state’s population has downloaded it.

This is a developing story.