Utah contact tracing app aims to speed up manual efforts

In designing its Healthy Together contact tracing app, the US state of Utah opted for a GPS and Bluetooth-based design created by social media startup Twenty; it does not use the Google-Apple API. The goal is for the app to assist the 1,200 Utah Department of Health workers who are doing phone call-based contact tracing. Twenty believes the app's ability to store location and contact history over 14 days can cut the length of phone calls from one hour to 16 minutes. The Apple-Google platform does not allow this data to be shared with public health authorities, and the Utah Department of Health believes that being able to use both GPS and Bluetooth gives a more accurate picture. About 2% (45,000 people) of the population have signed up for the app. Utah has indicated it's willing to consider the Apple-Google API as they learn more.

Writer: Juli Clover
Publication: MacRumors