Virginia became the first US state to launch an exposure tracking app that leverages Google and Apple’s APIs. The app, COVIDWISE, is available for both iOS and Android.
The Virginia Department of Health stresses that the app only works when enough Virginians have it deployed and activated, and that no personal data or location tracking happens within the app.
This was a big discussion point at the early point in the pandemic – how much will technology make a difference in helping with contact tracing. Now we get to start seeing results of those efforts.
I’ll note this is my own home state, and so a certain degree of pride that Virginia crosses the line first. It may not be on your radar, but Virginia is home to a very significant portion of infrastructure that powers the internet. While a debated statistic as to how much, on the east coast, a significant portion of data center capacity is in Northern Virginia, an hour or so outside of DC, so it should not be surprising that the technology investment is possible.
I’ve installed it. Now to see if it makes a difference over time.
Source: 9to5 Mac