The Province’s top doctor says it is keeping an eye on what is happening around the world when it comes to tracing apps.

The Prime Minister said that he hopes Canadians will download a new app on their cell phones that will alert them if they’ve come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Dr Bonnie Henry says it is a notification app and is not something that helps a whole lot with contact tracing. “Where it can facilitate this type of a notification app is if people are in an environments like crowds when other people have that app on their phone too. So there is a requirement that lots of people have to have it before it has any benefit.”

“Could provide some way of notification of telling people to contact public health for example, if somebody does turn up positive. So I think there is probably a place for it. It’s not an answer in and of itself. It is a piece, a tool, that we might be able to use” said Henry.

The new made-in-Ontario national app is called ‘COVID Alert’ and is now available for testing in Ontario on a voluntary basis. It was developed through the Canadian Digital Service with the help of Shopify, Blackberry and the Ontario Government.

Justin Trudeau said the app will be most effective when as many as people as possible have it. “If you test positive for COVID-19, a health care professional will help you upload your status anonymously to a national network… Other users who have the app and have been in proximity to you will then be alerted that they’ve been exposed to someone who’s tested positive.”