COVID-19 is not going anywhere, with six new active cases announced in Nova Scotia over the past week.
While safety measures such as physical distancing and handwashing are key to curb the spread of the disease, the federal government added another layer of protection three weeks ago.
The COVID Alert app, which was launched after weeks of delay, is meant to notify people who were in close proximity to another user who reported a positive COVID-19 test result.
Until now, the app has been operational only in Ontario. A week after its release, officials in Alberta said they would soon switch to the national app from Abtrace together, the province's COVID notification app.
At the app's launch announcement, Justin Trudeau said the Atlantic provinces will likely be next to adopt it.
As of Thursday, COVID Alert is the No. 1 download in Google Playstore and the fifth on the Apple app store. But it remains a question whether Atlantic Canadians would download it.
Ed McHugh, a business professor who has taught at several post-secondary institutions in Nova Scotia, said the app hasn't been promoted well so far. The first step would be to address questions about its safety and effectiveness.
“People are afraid of privacy breaches … so somehow people have to be convinced that there is no risk,” he said.
The app has received endorsements from privacy security experts and according to the federal government, it doesn't intentionally collect any personally identifiable information. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner was also consulted throughout the app's development.
But McHugh said reassurance from privacy experts or the government is not enough.
“At this point … (the app) is being promoted by the wrong people,” said McHugh.
“As much as most politicians have done a great job in the management of this pandemic, the trust level when it comes to things like this coming from politicians is pretty low.”
That's where people who have used the app could play an important role. Users could share how the app has worked for them and whether it helped protect their loved ones.
“People could see themselves in those testimonials,” said McHugh.
He added that people must see the need for the app before they download it.
“Right now … most people don't perceive the risk as high in Atlantic Canada because our numbers are so low,” he said.
Seeing epidemiologists use the app and explain how it works would also reassure those hesitant to use it. McHugh expects that if active COVID-19 cases continue to increase and the app becomes operational in Atlantic Canada, more people would download it to protect one another.
A group of researchers in the United Kingdom has analyzed 15 studies related to automated or partly automated contact tracing in the management of infectious disease outbreaks including COVID-19, SARS and MERS. Four of the seven studies suggested that for a contact tracing app such as COVID Alert to succeed in controlling COVID-19, a high proportion of the population, ranging between 56 to 95 per cent, must use it. Limiting the spread of the disease also relies on other protective public health measures.
For this reason, the effectiveness of COVID Alert hinges on how accessible it is. So far, the app only works with iPhones or Android phones released within the past five years. This could mean that anything older than iPhone 6s or Samsung Galaxy S6 might not work. The app also requires an internet connection, through Wi-Fi or a data plan, at least once a day to function properly.
Recent technology may not be available for people from marginalized communities who are at higher risk of contracting Sars-cov-2. This includes Black, Indigenous, people of colour, new immigrants, people with low incomes and migrant workers.
Ajay Parasram is an assistant professor at Dalhousie University in the departments of international development studies and history. He said at-risk populations were clearly not in mind when the government launched the app.
“The attempt to use phone apps in the way the government is proposing to do exposes who the normal citizen of Canada is presumed to be: middle class, white, and urban at a minimum,” he said.
Instead of pouring the bulk of services into the middle class in what Parasram considers a political appeal to their vote, he said the government should prioritize addressing the systemic issues that give rise to inequity in society.
It can start by providing at least 80 per cent of people from marginalized communities with free access to mobile phones and the services needed to operate it.
Nebal Snan is a local journalism initiative reporter, a position funded by the federal government.
