Switzerland is the first to use Apple-Google coronavirus contact tracing technology

[Chris Smith]

• The first coronavirus contact tracing app based on the Apple-Google COVID-19 spread API launched in Switzerland to some categories of users.
• Latvia will roll out nationwide its own app based on the standard as soon as it receives approval for the App Store and Google Play.
• Other countries and US states are working on similar apps based on the Apple-Google standard for iPhone and Android, as there's an increase need to manage the spread of COVID-19 and warn people of potential exposure to the virus.

Apple and Google inked a historic partnership a few weeks ago, to develop a common standard for apps that can allow governments to conduct sophisticated contact tracing campaigns that could help them contain the novel coronavirus outbreak. COVID-19 is more contagious than we would have hoped, having infected more than 5.7 million people worldwide as of Wednesday morning, and claiming the lives of more than 353,000 patients. Countries including South Korea, Iceland, Germany, Vietnam, and New Zealand excelled at testing and contact tracing in previous months. But as the curve has been flattened in most places and social distancing measures are loosened, there are plenty of second wave worries. New outbreaks are possible, and sustained testing and spread tracing campaigns will be required to prevent widespread transmission. Tools like the Apple-Google API that can be used in tracing apps are definitely needed to increase the scale of contact tracing well beyond what human tracers would be able to achieve. The first country to launch an app based on the Apple-Google standard is Switzerland, with Latvia and other European countries to follow soon.

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Switzerland is the first to use Apple-Google coronavirus contact tracing technology originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 27 May 2020 at 07:31:59 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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