Oregon is one of only four states along or west of the continental divide that has yet to introduce smartphone technology to detect coronavirus contact, leaving the state about two months behind without officials explaining it.
Government Kate Brown announced that Oregon would test the Exposure Notifications Express technology last fall, and government officials expected a wider implementation in January. The program allows users to sign up to receive knowledge if they have spent time in the vicinity of someone who later tested positive, such as when eating out in a restaurant or spending time at a college party.
California launched its notification system on December 10, with ‘millions’ using it now. Washington started earlier, on November 30, and more than 1.8 million residents intervened.
Oregon officials have given only vague statements and shifting timelines. A spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority said in December that the agency was currently working on a launch in January 2021. In early January, officials said they were evaluating the results of a pilot project at Oregon State University and likely by the middle of the month will have an update.
This week, the health authority said the results are still being reviewed – and neither the agency nor Oregon State University has responded to requests for public records to document the results or recommendations.
“OHA is still evaluating the results of a newly completed Oregon State University pilot of the application to set a date for its launch, but as previously mentioned, we are looking at spring for go-live,” said Tim Heider, a spokesman for the health authority, in an email.
The notification system is an additional tool for detecting contact personnel, in which public health officials interview someone who is infected, collect the names of people who have been in close contact with the person, and then contact the people to tell them about exposure. .
The smartphone system allows people to use their cell phones to ping anonymous nearby cell phones while keeping the data confidential. If someone later tests positive, they receive a code from local health officials that they can print into their phone. This causes a process to send out notifications to people who have been in close contact with the infected person – without disclosing anyone’s personal information.
While officials in many countries praised the potential of the technology to help spread the coronavirus, they praised,
it is unclear how successful the programs were.
Washington officials say they believe the exposure app is a useful tool, though it’s hard to know for sure. “The way WA Notify works is that no news is good news,” Teresa McCallion, a spokeswoman for state health, said in an email.
State officials said they could not provide detailed information on how many of their 1.8 million users received a notification, saying there are several ways to be notified. The main source is through contact detectives, who ask residents if they use the app.
The University of Washington is studying the emerging state program and expects to release a report this month.
“We add about 3,000 new users every week,” McCallion said. “That kind of reaction exceeds our wildest expectations.”
King County, home of Seattle, estimated that about 20% of respondents indicated they had WA notification on their phone, local officials said.
Since December, the system has sent codes to 2,140 app users with infections so they can choose to enable notifications for people they’ve been in close contact with.
“The effect of WA Notify on the transfer barrier is being reviewed at state level,” a provincial spokesman said.
A UK study released last month found that more than 1.7 million smartphone users in England and Wales should be isolated within a few months via an exposure notification app. The study estimated that more than 600,000 COVID-19 cases have been prevented since the app was launched in September.
“It is essential to isolate the spread of this virus and know when you are at risk of catching coronavirus, and the app is the fastest way to notify you if you are at risk,” said Matt Hancock. , the secretary of health and social care, said in a statement last month.
Oregon’s information gap remains as cases fall nationwide to below last summer’s peak this month. But the technology can seemingly come in handy, as the governor has approved indoor meals in 31 of 36 provinces, including the entire metro area, and promised to keep it that way at least until March 26.
According to government figures, only 50% of the cases were returned to a known source this week. Multnomah province comes far from the point, with only 41% of the province’s rapidly declining cases attributable to a specific source, well below the state’s declared target of 70%.
Contact detectives in the three-province area were overwhelmed this winter amid major cases, and it is not clear what role, if any, played their challenges in the delay. In December, state health officials said they were coordinating with the health care offices in the province over the implementation of the app, but they did not provide any details.
At the end of November, the health officials of three provinces were so overwhelmed that they urged COVID-positive residents to call close contacts and their employer and not wait until a contact detector was issued – indicating that new duties associated with a notification system is not feasible.
Beyond Washington and California, Hawaii, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nevada, state notification systems have been enabled. Arizona has launched notification systems on some university campuses and New Mexico has a small-scale option in Santa Fe.
Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, and Montana did not activate notification systems.
Colorado said it now has about 1.8 million users, with the technology being so widely used because it’s free, anonymous, and easy to use on Android and Apple devices. It also occurs in several languages.
A state spokesman said the notification system was a useful tool to delay disease transmission. ”
– Andrew Theen; [email protected]; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen