Coronalert, the app that should help prevent the spread of the virus, has already been downloaded 1.4 million times. According to the makers, 20 percent of all active smartphone users have already installed it. “According to an estimate we made, between 4,000 and 6,000 people got a red screen.” That means they came into contact with someone who tested positive and was contagious at the time.
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About 25,000 Belgians have already received their test results in the app. About 15 percent were positive. So it concerns 3,700 people whose risky contacts could possibly be warned. Of those 3,700, 2,500 people agreed to share their data, so those contacts got such a red screen. This means that 30 percent of the people who tested positive did not notify the high-risk contacts via the app.
We do not know the exact figure of those red screens, because privacy-wise, that is not possible: it is not recorded. But an estimate by the makers of Coronalert shows that about 4,000 to 6,000 people were already warned that they came into contact with someone who was contagious at the time.
Furthermore, the experts emphasize that a coverage of 20 percent of all smartphone users is already quite high. “We also see that in certain groups, such as among students or colleagues at work, almost everyone has the app. The app can do its job very well in those specific groups, ”emphasizes Professor Bart Preneel (KU Leuven), who helped develop the app.
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