Pennsylvania to launch 'Covid Alert PA' contact tracing app

The Pennsylvania Department of Health will launch a mobile app in September that will use Bluetooth technology to assist state officials in contact tracing efforts, to curb the spread of covid-19.

The state partnered with experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Pennsylvania and the developer NearForm to design the app, called Covid Alert PA. Using technology developed by Apple and Google, the app will measure time and distance between users, notifying them if they’ve come in close contact with someone who has later tested positive for the coronavirus.

“It does not really track your travels, but rather uses the same technology that our phones use to communicate with one another,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in a news conference Tuesday. “We are very committed to protecting the privacy and security of all Pennsylvanians.”

The new app is meant to supplement the existing work of case investigators and contact tracers, Levine said. The state has hired more than 1,200 contact tracers and is hiring more public health professionals to work as case investigators. The app won’t replace the work of the human contact tracers, Levine said, but will fill gaps.

“Sometimes it is difficult to recount every step in your day and who you may have spent more than 15 minutes with in close contact,” Levine said. “That’s where Covid Alert PA comes in.”

Levine stressed that the app is anonymous and voluntary, and does not collect data on users’ exact locations. It is meant to only record when users have come within six feet of a covid-positive user for 15 minutes or more. It won’t be used to enforce quarantine or isolation orders, she said. Officials are also working with counterparts in other states to ensure the app works across state lines.

The state will embark on a marketing campaign for the app when it becomes available to encourage Pennsylvanians to download the app and to “reassure them” that their privacy will be protected, Levine said.

“The more people who have the app, the more effective it will be in terms of this notification process,” she said.

Some countries in Europe and Asia have used the technology to successfully curb the spread of the virus. Contact tracing apps and the use of smartphone data to track covid-19 has grown in popularity in the months since the pandemic gained traction in the U.S. — while tech and data privacy experts say there is a balance that needs to be struck.

The state announced 735 new cases across all 67 counties Tuesday morning, bringing Pennsylvania’s total to 125,579 positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic. There have been nearly 7,500 deaths in the state attributed to covid-19. Levine said 79% of all covid-positive patients are considered “recovered.”