RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - More than half a million Virginians had downloaded a smartphone app that is designed to alert users if they’ve been exposed to the coronavirus.
But The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Sunday that the numbers are considered low. And there’s some doubt about the anticipated return on the state’s $1.53 million investment in the app.
The app is called COVIDWISE. About 7% of the state’s population has downloaded it. And that amounts to about 13% of the estimated number of users with a smartphone.
So far, 238 people have logged positive results within the app. That’s a small fraction of the roughly 50,000 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state since the app launched in early August.
Virginia was the first state in the U.S. to fully launch an application. And the state has been left to experiment with how to convince people to take part.
It’s unclear why so few Virginians have chose to participate.
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