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TheBrief News
When nevada’s department of health
and human services launched one of the
nation’s frst COVID-19 contact- tracing
smartphone apps on Aug. 24, state authorities
“strongly recommend[ed]” all 3 million-plus
Nevadans make use of the mobile public-
health software. But 2½ months later, only
around 3% of the adult population has
downloaded it, and it appears to have done
little to slow a new surge of cases there.
States across the U.S. have launched simi-
lar apps, which proponents say can curb viral
spread by notifying people when they have
had close contact with someone who tests
positive for COVID-19. Most are built by
state governments, underpinned by a Blue-
tooth protocol released in May by Google
and Apple. Six months later, apps using that
protocol are available to the general public in
only 14 states and Washington, D.C. And even
in states that have rolled out contact- tracing
apps, adoption—and impact— generally re-
mains low. Why?
One issue has been a lack of federal as-
sistance on coordination among states. App
development has also been slowed by state
health departments’ lack of tech expertise.
And, of course, whether an app takes a week
or six months to build doesn’t matter if peo-
ple aren’t using it—a problem in most states
that have launched contact- tracing apps.
WILDLIFE
Animal auctions
New Kim, a 2-year-old Belgian racing
pigeon, sold at auction for nearly
$1.9 million on Nov. 15 after a record-
breaking bidding war. Here, more
costly creatures. —Madeleine Carlisle
STEEP SHEEP
A trio of breeders pooled funds
to purchase a 6-month-old
Texel lamb with “all the best
genetics,” as British newspaper
the Guardian reported, at an
auction in Scotland in August.
The price? Nearly $490,000.
BULL MARKET
Charles Herbster, chairman of
President Trump’s agriculture and
rural advisory committee, paid over
$1.5 million for a year-old Angus bull
at a North Dakota auction in 2019,
nearly doubling the previous world
record for a single bull sale.
FANCY F ISH
The most expensive koi carp
ever sold fetched $1.8 million
at an auction in 2018 after
being judged Grand Champion
at the All Japan Nishikigoi
Show, a renowned koi
competition, the year before.
NEWS
TICKER
U.K. Prime
Minister’s top
adviser quits
Dominic Cummings,
chief adviser to U.K.
Prime Minister Boris
Johnson, resigned
on Nov. 13 after
infighting over access
to the Prime Minister.
The departure of
Cummings, the key
architect of Johnson’s
most controversial
policies, was welcomed
by many of his party
lawmakers.
Cybersecurity
official fired
after fact-
checks
On Nov. 17, President
Trump tweeted that he
was firing Chris Krebs,
the Department of
Homeland Security's
cybersecurity head,
after Krebs challenged
Trump's baseless
claims of voter fraud.
Krebs' department
played a key role in
ensuring election
security.
15 Asia-Pacific
countries sign
trade deal
A major new trade deal
was signed Nov. 15
by 15 countries,
including China, in the
Asia-Pacific region
that account for 30%
of global economy. The
pact is designed to
remove trade barriers.
Some analysts
say the Regional
Comprehensive
Economic Partnership
(RCEP) will be a blow to
U.S. economic clout.
Alabama’s app, for example, was downloaded
only 125,000 times between its release in
mid-August and late October, a fgure equiva-
lent to just over 3% of the state’s adult popu-
lation. Apps in North Carolina and Pennsyl-
vania had likewise been downloaded by only
3% to 4% of their adult populations by the end
of October, about a month after launching.
Sluggish adoption can be partly explained
by unfounded fears that contact- tracing apps
are tracking users’ locations or other personal
information. (In reality, some health experts
have argued these apps keep information so
private that they’re actually less useful, in
part because they don’t collect data like loca-
tion.) In some states, sparse use may also be
linked to a lack of awareness. In Wyoming,
for example, funds to advertise the state’s app
are scant, and adoption among residents has
remained persistently low.
Even the highest adoption rates among
U.S. states are far below those in countries
like Ireland, where more than a third of the
eligible population downloaded the govern-
ment’s contact- tracing app by early October.
And despite the relative success of states like
Delaware and Virginia, which have achieved
7.3% and 11.1% adoption, respectively, some
experts are beginning to doubt the assump-
tion that contact- tracing apps can help bring
the spiraling COVID-19 outbreak under con-
trol in the U.S. “There’s an ultimate question
here ...which is, Is this a great opportunity
for software?” says Christian Sandvig, direc-
tor of the Center for Ethics, Society, and Com-
puting at the University of Michigan. “It may
be that it is not.” —alejandro de la Garza
GOOD QUESTION
Why haven’t contact-
tracing apps done more
to stop COVID-19?
YVES HERMAN—REUTERS
