Roughly five percent of Ontario coronavirus cases used the federal government’s COVID Alert app to report their positive results.
CBC News reports that since 1,354 users reported their positive results to COVID Alert, and Ontario has had over 25,000 confirmed cases since then, this means around five percent of people with the virus used the app to report their case.
It’s possible that since only a fraction of people have reported their case to the app, the effectiveness of the app could be hampered. However, experts have said that no measure is going to be 100 percent effective.
Further, it’s also important to note that the app is only one of the measures aimed at slowing down the spread of the virus amid the second wave.
British Columbia and Alberta are the only two provinces that have not yet signed on to adopt the exposure notification app, but Health Canada says it’s working with both provincial governments.
COVID Alert is currently fully functional in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. The app has reached more than 4.7 million downloads.
The app can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS.
Source: CBC News
