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Omicron variant, testing backlog undermine effectiveness of COVID Alert app, expert says - CBC News, December 29, 2021

Published: 3 January 2022

Erica Moodie, Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, spoke to CBC News.

"A smartphone app launched by the Canadian government to help slow the spread of COVID-19 could be less effective in the latest wave of the pandemic, says an expert.

The COVID Alert app, launched in July of 2020 by the federal government, works by using a cellphone's Bluetooth signal to detect other app users who come within two metres for at least 15 minutes.

If a user tests positive for COVID-19, they're supposed to receive a code from their local health authority, which they enter into the app."

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