Contact Tracing App

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Contact Tracing App

Thursday, 18 June 2020 13:26

A new made in Ontario national contact tracing app called COVID Alert will let you know if you have come into contact with anyone who has COVID-19.

ONTARIO - Prime Minister Trudeau announced today that they will be introducing a nation-wide mobile app for COVID-19 contract tracing.

The app will first launch in Ontario. Speaking at his daily press conference today, Premier Doug Ford says this contact tracing app will quickly test, trace and isolate cases of COVID-19 to stop the spread of the virus and prepare for any potential future waves.

He also says they designed this in partnership with the federal government, a new made-in-Ontario national app called COVID Alert.

"You can't manage what you can't measure. That's why our government has been relentless in building our testing and contact tracing capacity to track, trace, and contain the invisible enemy we face. As we take our contact tracing strategy to the next level today, I want to thank the federal government for providing more boots on the ground and supporting a privacy-first app that will protect both Ontarians and Canadians alike."

The government's enhanced strategy focuses on strengthening and standardizing case and contact management by:

- Ensuring that all new cases and their close contacts are identified early, contacted quickly, investigated thoroughly and are followed up with daily for up to 14 days;

- Supporting public health units with up to 1,700 additional staff from Statistics Canada;

- Improving technology tools by modernizing the integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) through the implementation of a new custom-built COVID-19 case and contact management system;

- Launching a privacy-first exposure notification app to alert Ontarians when they may have been exposed to COVID-19.

Ontario is providing updated case and contact management guidance for all public health units to ensure consistency across the province. To continue to ensure cases and their contacts are reached in a timely and effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, public health units will:

- Connect with cases, and with all individuals who have had close contact with a positive case, within 24 hours of being identified;
- Direct all close contacts to self-isolate for up to 14 days;
- Follow up with close contacts every day for the duration of their self-isolation; and
- Advise testing of all appropriate close contacts.

To augment the current provincial capacity of approximately 2,000 case managers and contact tracers, Ontario is providing additional contact tracing staff. New and expanded capacity will be provided through Statistics Canada with access to up to 1,700 additional staff, available to all provinces, for contact tracing. Public Health Ontario will continue overseeing the training and coordination of these additional resources.

Over the summer and into the fall, Ontario will continue to build a supplementary pool of contact tracers from the Ontario Public Service and the broader public sector for additional surge capacity, as required. This will allow public health units to perform their other critical functions, including inspections of food premises and water in recreational facilities, and vaccinations.

Everyone should continue to follow public health guidelines to stay safe, including physical distancing with people not in your social circle, wearing a face covering if physical distancing is a challenge, washing your hands thoroughly and frequently, and, if you think you have COVID-19 or have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, getting tested.

The only way this app will work is if people sign up for it and if they actually are honest in using it. Experts suggest, you need at least 60 percent of the population to sign up for this for it be truly effective. The app should be available by July 2nd.

Ford says they took every preacation possible to make sure your data is protected with this app. You can listen to his full statement from today below: