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COVID Alert app now discontinued, Health Canada announces – CTV News

Published

2 years ago

June 17, 2022

Health Canada announced on Friday that the COVID Alert app has been shut down, citing low usage, falling case counts and hospitalizations as well as the lack of PCR testing across Canada.

As of June 17, the app will no longer provide exposure notifications and Health Canada says users can now delete the app.

The app had only been downloaded 6.9 million times and logged 63,117 positive tests since it launched in July 2020. British Columbia, Alberta, Nunavut and Yukon also declined to participate in the app.

Infectious diseases expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch calls the app “a good idea at the time” but says after six to eight months, the low uptake meant that the app “was not really going to be an effective tool.”

“It’s going to be tough to actually measure the true impact of the app and unfortunately, it probably wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be,” Bogoch told CTV’s Your Morning on Friday. “The app was only downloaded just under seven million devices, which isn’t nearly enough for something like this to have any effectiveness. You really need roughly 60 to 70 per cent of a population to have an app like this.”

The app worked by keeping track of other users who have been in close proximity to you by using Bluetooth signals. Users who tested positive via a PCR test could receive a one-time key to enter into the app and alert other users that they’ve been in close contact with a positive case.

This process was sometimes disjointed. If a user was in a jurisdiction that didn’t automatically issue a key, they had to contact their local public health unit for one.

But with most provinces now restricting PCR test eligibility to health-care workers, hospital patients, long-term care residents and others deemed to be at higher risk, the majority of users who contract COVID-19 were not able to obtain a one-time key, as keys are not given out after a rapid test, further undercutting the effectiveness of the app

Back in December, John Haggie, Newfoundland and Labrador’s health minister, told reporters that the federal government “gave up” on the app months ago, although Haggie later walked back his comments and Health Canada reiterated the federal government’s commitment to the app at the time.

In March, Manitoba also ended its use of the app and is no longer distributing one-time keys. Alberta has its own contact tracing app known as ABTraceTogether, but the province has announced that this app would be decommissioned on June 23.

To address privacy concerns, the federal government said that the app has no way of knowing the user’s location, name, address, phone contacts and the personal information of other app users who were in close proximity.

When the app first launched, the federal and Ontario privacy commissioners conducted a review of the app and gave their support, saying it was “developed with robust safeguards to protect the identity of users.”

Bogoch believes some of the steps designed to protect the privacy of Canadians, such as making the app voluntary, may have hindered its success. In Singapore, the adoption rate for the country’s COVID contact tracing app is 92 per cent, as using the app was made mandatory to enter many public spaces.

“This app involves people having to download it, and then having to report that they indeed had COVID,” he said. “That’s just probably not the best way to run it. I’m not even sure if an app-based approach in a place like Canada would be a good idea in terms of an effective way to do contact tracing moving forward just because of how much we do value our privacy.”

But despite the app’s low uptake, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said it was nonetheless important that innovations like this take place during a public health challenge.

“Not all innovations might work in the different populations, but I think it is good that there was a good go at trying to utilize another tool in the current era of apps to try and protect the population,” she told reporters during a COVID-19 media briefing on Friday afternoon.

Health Canada says all data from the app will be deleted, other than aggregated performance metrics which contain no personally identifiable data.

With files from CTVNews.ca’s Sarah Turnbull and The Caandian Press.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

23 mins ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, unbeaten Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24 in OT

Published

23 mins ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

UP NEXT

Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

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AP NFL:

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NHL roundup: Kuemper helps visiting Kings shut out Predators 3-0

Published

24 mins ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.

Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.

Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.

Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.

Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.

The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:

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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.

Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.

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