Tech
COVID Alert app wraps first month with 2.2M downloads, 90 infection reports – Global News
It’s been one month since the country’s coronavirus exposure notification app launched and since then, COVID Alert has been downloaded roughly 2.2 million times.
Over the last four weeks, roughly 80 to 100 people have been testing positive each day in Ontario for COVID-19. But just 90 have logged their diagnosis with the app since it launched, and it’s not possible to tell how many people have been notified of exposure because the app does not collect that information.
“Due to the strong privacy and security measures built into the app, this data is not available,” said Natalie Mohamed, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada.
One infectious disease expert cautions the numbers show a disconnect between the number of people being diagnosed and the number using the app to share that information to protect those around them.
“That’s a large amount that’s lost,” Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease specialist at McMaster University, said when asked about the daily case numbers in Ontario versus those logged in the app.
“Uptake needs to be there, for sure. We know from global experience that the failure of these apps is really uptake more than anything else.
“There’s definitely some more work to be done getting into more people’s phones.”
The app works not in the sense of traditional contact tracing but by notifying people based on proximity to an individual who has informed the app of a positive coronavirus test result.
Those who test positive get a one-time code to log with the app, which uses Bluetooth rather than location data to ping any devices close enough that they are deemed to be at risk of exposure.
That radius is within two to three metres.
But because the app is voluntary, there’s no requirement for anyone who does test positive to log that information with the app so as to alert others of potential exposures.
“All aspects of the COVID Alert app are completely voluntary – Ontarians can choose whether to download the app, whether to use the app after downloading it, and whether to notify others if they test positive for COVID-19,” said Sebastian Skamski, press secretary for the Ontario treasury board president.
“However, using the app and alerting fellow Ontarians is highly encouraged.”
Skamski said the government continues to run marketing across social media and traditional media platforms and is working to get stakeholders to encourage use of the app.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, was asked on Tuesday about uptake of the app so far and what else can be done to encourage more people to use it.
She said targeting certain segments of the population at specific sites where they may be at greater risk of exposure could help.
“I think some ongoing support to disseminate information and ask the public to download would be important,” Tam said, noting that “you don’t have to have necessarily a uniform uptake in a population.”
Instead, she pointed to the young adult population as one segment that might be worth targeting specifically, given they may be more inclined to frequent bars, pubs and restaurants, “or other places where you don’t know everybody around you.”
Chagla offered a similar suggestion.
“All of us are going back into society, all of us are going to stores, going to restaurants. Maybe it’s better for those private industries to say, ‘For the safety of our stores and the safety of the individuals in our establishment, please download the app when you enter this facility,’” he said.
“Encourage people to download the app as part of the experience of coming in.”
The app has been praised by privacy experts who say it strikes the right balance between the need to notify people of potential exposure and avoiding having the government collect increasing swaths of user and location data on citizens.
Neither the federal nor provincial government can track location or identities as a result of the app.
“Canadians can opt to use this technology knowing it includes very significant privacy protections,” privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien said in a statement when the app was released. “I will use it.”
While the federal government has said it will roll out to other provinces, there’s no timeline yet on when Canadians in other provinces will be able to use it.
The Alberta government said in August that it is in the process of transitioning over to use the new app and will abandon its own provincial app, which was created at a cost of roughly $650,000 but has run into functional challenges.
Manitoba hasn’t yet rolled out an app but says it is looking to expand its contact-tracing work.
Quebec and B.C. have so far said they are not currently planning on using the federal app.
The other provinces have not yet moved either way.
© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Vittoria Releases New Peyote & Mezcal XC Race Tires
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Videos
With roots dating back to 1991, the Sea Otter Classic is one of the biggest biking events and tradeshows each year and brings together all sides of the biking industry from athletes to brands, spectators and consumers. Taking place in April in the sunny hills of Monterey, California, that means this event really feels like the official start to the biking season in North America. Christina Chappetta covers why it’s much different to an indoor European biking tradeshow, a World Cup racing weekend or even Crankworx mountain bike festival, in that it encompasses nearly ALL of the biking disciplines, including road cycling, enduro, downhill, dual slalom, XC, trials riding and more.
In the past fortnight, we have seen large amount of new tech releases. However, Sea Otter 2024 represents some of the first opportunities for many riders to see these things in the flesh, as well as take a deeper dive into what the product aims to do.
Welcome to a video summary from Day 2 of the Sea Otter Classic.
There are so many giveaways, interesting new products and colourful characters at Sea Otter Classic that it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. Ben Cathro takes a lap of the venue to find his favourites.
Well, that was quick. On May 18, a respected industry insider predicted a new display technology for the iPad Air that’s expected in the coming days—Apple just announced its latest special event.
The new 12.9-inch iPad Air, the report claimed, would have the same miniLED backlighting currently found on the larger iPad Pro, using the leftover inventory from the current Pro as that model switches to OLED. That was exciting news.
But now, Ross Young, the analyst who made the claim, has changed his mind. The new prediction, shared with paid subscribers only, is that the miniLED technology won’t be coming to the iPad Air, in either size.
While it made sense that the inventory could be maximized in this way, it now “makes sense” that it won’t.
Young says that while he’d heard from supply chain sources that it would, he’d now had contact from “even more supply chain sources” that it won’t.
And the reason this change of heart now makes sense is that this miniLED technology is expensive, so it would be surprising if it made it to the iPad Air, which is more affordable than the Pro.
That’s not quite all the analyst shared. He also said that there are now reports of a new iPad coming later in the year. This is a 12.9-inch iPad, with miniLED backlighting and it could arrive between October and December this year.
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This is intriguing. What could it be? Assuming that the iPad Pro and iPad Air are released in May, it’s extremely unlikely either will be updated later in the year. And if the iPad Air isn’t pricey enough for miniLED to be included, what tablet could Apple be introducing that is the same size as the bigger Pro, with a pricey screen tech, which would sit between the Air and the Pro, it seems?
Young is highly reliable, but this seems slightly preposterous to me. The only other iPad in the range due a refresh is the regular iPad (at 12.9-inches, the iPad mini is clearly out of the picture) and that doesn’t seem likely either.
It seems to me that any regular iPad will almost certainly have the same screen size as now, 10.9 inches. The regular iPad only grew to this size screen in the current generation, and Apple almost never changes designs after one iteration.
Perhaps things will become clearer as the year goes on.
Tech
Woman who left beaten dad on floor for 2 days was 'overwhelmed' with his care, judge told – CBC.ca
A Calgary woman who abused her sick, 77-year-old father was “overwhelmed” at the task of caring for him, a judge heard Wednesday at a sentencing hearing.
In January, Tara Picard, 52, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life after her father (whom CBC News is not naming) was found injured on a basement floor, where he’d been lying for two days.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence lawyer Shaun Leochko asked the judge to allow Picard to serve her sentence in the community under conditions as part of a conditional sentence order.
Justice Indra Maharaj agreed to a two-year conditional sentence for Picard followed by a year of probation.
“There is no doubt she became overwhelmed,” said Spaner in her submissions. “There is no question Ms. Picard has remorse.”
Leochko told the judge that caring for her father “was really more than [Picard] could handle.”
Maharaj heard that Picard is Indigenous and was the victim of abuse growing up. She lives in a sober dorm-style facility and is working with a mental health and addictions navigator, according to Leochko.
A ‘willingness to give back’
As part of the sentence, Picard must complete 300 hours of community service.
Justice Maharaj commended Picard for “taking that on.”
“That shows me Ms. Picard sincerely does recognize what has happened here,” said the judge.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to her community.”
During Picard’s plea, court heard that in November 2021, Picard and her father fought over his drinking.
Nurses discover victim
The victim suffers from a number of medical issues, including diabetes, heart disease, dementia and alcoholism.
At the time, home-care registered nurses were assigned to help provide supplementary care.
Nurses found the victim wearing a soiled adult diaper and suffering from two black eyes with blood on his head.
He told the nurses who discovered him that he’d been there for two days.
Picard admitted she knew her father had fallen and she had “administered a number of physical blows.”
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