You Can Now See If You've Been Exposed To COVID-19 With This New Florida Tool
A company has developed a new tool that could tell if you've encountered someone who's been exposed to COVID-19. Developed by Shield Group Technologies, a Palm Beach County company, CombatCOVID app is aimed at helping fight the spread of the disease. All you need is a smartphone.
"One tap on the app to find out if you've been exposed to COVID-19," reads the app's page.
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The free app uses Bluetooth signals to determine if someone near you has the disease, and recommends nearby testing locations.
On the website, the developers say that information received from the user is both anonymous and confidential, with no tracing or tracking involved.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach County has paid $875,600 to use the tool, Miami-Dade is expected to pay $775,000, and Broward Mayor Dale Holness has expressed interest.
Cities and counties across the state are trying to find new ways to combat the transmission of the novel coronavirus within the state.
Major regions have resorted to business crackdowns and mandatory face mask ordinances to blunt the disease's impact on the Sunshine State.
Although case numbers are still high, they have dipped below five-digits in recent days.
However, it still wasn't enough as, over the weekend, Florida passed New York to become the second state in America with the most COVID-19 cases. The top slot is currently occupied by California.
Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties are two of the most hard-hit counties in Florida.
As of Monday, Dade county hit 106,445 cases, which surpasses more than 30 states.
If successful, the tool could be invaluable in what's known as "contact tracing," which is used to investigate disease transmission and its point of origin.