An interface built by Google and Apple Inc. it will bring technology to the Southern Carolinians that will assist in the efforts of public health workers to track coronavirus cases and help prevent future outbreaks.
Residents’ willingness to buy and use smartphone-based contact tracking technology will determine their success. Your participation can help to stem the spread of the disease.
South Carolina is among the first states to enroll in the project. The application has not yet been named and is still in development with South Carolina Medical University assuming the main role in Palmetto State.
It is a voluntary membership for residents, who can share if they have been infected with COVID-19. Then, other people who downloaded the app will be notified if they came close to someone who reported a positive test result. The software is developed by Bluetoothand will not involve users’ GPS location data.
If a person with the application receives a COVID-19 diagnosis, it is up to them to decide whether they want to share the information.
Apple and Google, in a joint statement on Wednesday, indicated their efforts Exposure notifications. Longtime rivals have teamed up to create the interface, which states can use to develop their own applications.
“In the past few weeks, our two companies have worked together, reaching out to public health officials, scientists, privacy groups and government leaders around the world to get their opinion and guidance,” the Silicon Valley giants said in a joint statement.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control of SC said contact tracking will be critical to efforts to contain the virus. The health department is hiring hundreds of investigators to help. DHEC and MUSC signed a letter of intent on May 1 agreeing that the state-supported healthcare system would lead the development of the app.
The MUSC then shares the data that the application collects with DHEC, in the service of public health. The application will have to go through several approvals with DHEC and state leadership.
The letter between the two agencies asks the MUSC to create a database that stores anonymous test results and notifies users of recent positive tests, as well as “buildings and facilities that may have been contaminated”.
Preserving participants’ privacy is critical to the effort, said each organization involved.
The application will be available in both iOS and Android devices.
Alabama and North Dakota are among other pioneers.
Reach Mary Katherine Wildeman at 843-607-4312. Follow her on Twitter @mkwildeman.