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Apple Updates COVID-19 App With New CDC Recommendations for Healthcare Workers and Best Practices for Quarantining

Apple today updated its COVID-19 screening app, created to help people stay informed and take the proper steps to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

applecovid19app
Today's update includes updated recommendations for healthcare workers to align with CDC guidelines, plus best practices for quarantining if you've been exposed to COVID-19.

The app update also adds new information for pregnancy and newborns. Apple has also updated its accompanying COVID-19 website to provide the same new information for those who prefer to use the website.

Apple created the COVID-19 app and website in partnership with the CDC, White House Coronavirus Task Force, and FEMA. Along with the features introduced today, the tools provided by Apple let users answer a series of questions on risk factors, recent exposure, and symptoms to receive CDC recommendations on the next steps that they need to take.

The screening tool is available to anyone who is 18 years or older in the United States. Data provided in the COVID-19 app and on the website is not shared with Apple, the CDC, or other government agencies.

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Top Rated Comments

NickName99 Avatar
78 months ago

This whole contact app thing is super creepy....so much room for governmental abuse.
When did Apple become....Google!!!??? :eek:
The US government is reporting 85,000 Americans dead from coronavirus in the past couple months. Would you rather be part of the problem, or part of the solution?

Edit: three days later, now it’s over 90,000 Americans.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
78 months ago
Sounds like you’re not very concerned about the 85,000+ Americans who have died in the past couple months. How many lives lost will it take for you to take it seriously?
Let’s apply this new found concern to everything that causes death. I’m more concerned about heart conditions, car accidents, flu, smoking, drinking, etc. I got apps for all of these and now try to keep up with running death tolls on these daily. Because I care. And I must do everything I can possibly do to be 100% safe.

Thanks man. You’ve awakened me to a world of being a nutjob. I gave up smoking, drinking, sold my car, quit my job, wear facemasks, and looking into aluminum foil.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
78 months ago

The US government is reporting 85,000 Americans dead from coronavirus in the past couple months. Would you rather be part of the problem, or part of the solution?
Reported yes.
But vast majority of these 85,000 died with coronavirus, not from coronavirus. They had other illnesses like cancer, etc..., and they were counted as cv deaths because they also had cv. Internet is full of reports to this account.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Professor Rucy Avatar
78 months ago

The US government is reporting 85,000 Americans dead from coronavirus in the past couple months. Would you rather be part of the problem, or part of the solution?
If you actually believe that an overwhelming majority of Americans—including the elderly, the most vulnerable to terminal illness in general—will even have an ounce of awareness of this iOS update to make any difference, you are living in a fantasy world, not just a safety bubble.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
78 months ago

This whole contact app thing is super creepy....so much room for governmental abuse.
When did Apple become....Google!!!??? :eek:
First of all, this app is NOT a contact tracing app. This is merely an information tool to help you get tested.

If you are talking about Exposure Notification API that Apple and Google are co-developing, you are seriously misinformed. From FAQ ('https://covid19-static.cdn-apple.com/applications/covid19/current/static/contact-tracing/pdf/ExposureNotification-FAQv1.1.pdf'):


7. Where is the data stored and who has access to it?

If a user decides to participate, exposure notification data will be stored and processed on device. Other than the random Bluetooth identifiers that are broadcast, no data will be shared by the system with public health authority apps unless one of the following two scenarios takes place:

* If a user chooses to report a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 to their contact tracing app, the user’s most recent keys to their Bluetooth beacons will be added to the positive diagnosis list shared by the public health authority so that other users who came in contact with those beacons can be alerted.
* If a user is notified through their app that they have come into contact with an individual who is positive for COVID-19 then the system will share the day the contact occurred, how long it lasted and the Bluetooth signal strength of that contact. Any other information about the contact will not be shared.

In keeping with our privacy guidelines, Apple and Google will not receive identifying information about the user, location data, or information about any other devices the user has been in proximity of.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iGeneo Avatar
78 months ago

This whole contact app thing is super creepy....so much room for governmental abuse.
When did Apple become....Google!!!??? :eek:
Can you elaborate on what the "government" can abuse? You realize this app is nothing more than info, no data. Might as well be an ebook
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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