Alberta’s COVID-19 Contact Tracing App Has Traced 32 Cases to Date

According to Alberta Health, the province’s ABTraceTogether contact tracing app for COVID-19, has traced 32 cases of Tuesday. This is up from the 20 cases traced in November.

The information was provided to CBC News, in a story related to the Calgary hotel industry and ABTraceTogether.

The Calgary Hotel Association recently asked its members whether they would consider promoting the ABTraceTogether app, in exchange for easing restrictions for travellers, an idea suggested by the Alberta government.

One proposal would be to make the contact tracing app a mandatory download for some guests.

According to Calgary Hotel Association president Sol Zia, the survey was sent out to roughly 60 members earlier this week.

“It was proposed, as a condition/concession, if Calgary hotels would consider promoting the installation of the Alberta Trace Together app at registration/check-in,” reads part of the survey.

One question asks, “If restrictions on meetings, swimming pools, fitness facilities and dining could begin to be eased, how much would you agree with promoting the Government of Alberta’s Trace Together app to guests at check-in or registration?”

The hospitality industry has come to a halt, due to COVID-19, as travel restrictions and bans on gatherings are in effect, to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

Alberta Health spokesperson Tom McMillan told CBC News the province “is exploring a wide range of ideas and options to support safe reopening at a future date,” adding no decisions have been made yet.

ABTraceTogether now has roughly 300,000 registered users, said Alberta Health. Alberta continues to tout its contact tracing app as superior to Canada’s COVID Alert exposure notification app, which offers better privacy for its users.

To date, COVID Alert has reached 6.02 million downloads as of January 12, with 15,251 one-time keys issued to local health authorities. The app is not supported by health authorities in B.C. or Alberta.

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