Osaka stands by COVID-19 tracing app that sent six alerts in seven months
With alerts limited to infectious contact, and no obligation to flag positive status, high volumes of messages were never expected, though the prefecture is working on enhancements.
At churches, on cruise ships and even in the White House, superspreading events that can sicken dozens, even hundreds, of people have illustrated the potential for the coronavirus to infect in dramatic bursts. Experts say these large clusters are more than just extreme outliers, but ...
Contact tracers eye cluster-busting to tackle COVID-19's new surge
As the pandemic worsens in the U.S. and Europe, an approach that has seen success in Japan gains interest.
Japan considers facial recognition for contact tracing at big events
The government also hopes to improve the national capacity to conduct saliva-based polymerase chain reaction tests.
'Test and trace' crucial but won't beat coronavirus alone, study says
Testing for COVID-19 and tracing the prior contacts of those found to be infected are crucial measures for slowing the disease's spread, but inadequate unless combined with other measures, researchers said Wednesday. By itself, the test-and-trace approach can reduce the virus's reproduction rate, or R ...
Local governments in U.S. 'overwhelmed' in race to trace COVID-19 contacts
Many city and county departments say they lack the money and staff to expeditiously identify people who have been exposed.
U.S. must do better on its second COVID-19 test
The nation needs to incorporate lessons from its first “natural experiment” about policy relief, social distancing, testing and contact tracing.
Japan's contact-tracing app suspended again to fix input glitch preventing alerts
The health ministry has confirmed that the app isn't recognizing infected users' reference numbers when entered, crippling the notification process.
Japan ministry issues infection codes for COVID-19 contact tracing app
The codes allow users to be warned by their smartphones if they spent 15 minutes within a meter of someone infected in the past 14 days.
Japan's COVID-19 app reaches 4 million downloads in first week
Japan's COVID-19 contact-tracing app has been downloaded more than 4 million times since its launch a week ago as the government seeks to head off a second wave of infections now that businesses and schools have reopened. Health ministry official Yasuyuki Sahara said while there ...
Bugs force health ministry to halt Japan's virus contact-tracing app
The free app was launched Friday and had been downloaded around 3.71 million times as of Tuesday morning.
Japan's coronavirus contact-tracing app launched amid privacy concerns
"It does not collect personal data at all. People can use it without worry," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in urging its use to curb the pandemic.
