What’s new: Dozens of countries have rolled out automated contact tracing apps, but a new study confirms what experts already knew: they can’t beat the pandemic on their own. According to a new systematic review of 15 published studies, the technology still requires manual contact tracing, social distancing, and mass testing in order to be effective.
The new research, from University College London, reinforces what technologists and epidemiologists (and we) have been saying ever since the pandemic first reared its ugly head: digital tools can only complement—not replace—the very human work required to beat covid-19.
Concerted effort: Many governments have launched their own apps to track covid-19 exposure, as documented by the MIT Technology Review Covid Tracing Tracker project. But there are still many questions about how effective it can be. UCL’s Robert Aldridge urged further research on the effectiveness of smartphone contact tracing and bemoaned the lack of science on the now-crucial subject: “We urgently need to study this evidence gap and examine how automated approaches can be integrated with existing contact tracing and disease control strategies, and generate evidence on whether these new digital approaches are cost-effective and equitable.”
Don’t settle for half the story.
Get paywall-free access to technology news for the here and now.
