RICHMOND, Va. — More than half a million Virginians had downloaded a smartphone app that is designed to alert users if they’ve been exposed to the coronavirus.
But The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Sunday that the numbers are considered low. And there’s some doubt about the anticipated return on the state’s $1.53 million investment in the app.
The app is called COVIDWISE.
About 7% of the state’s population has downloaded it. And that amounts to about 13% of the estimated number of users with a smartphone.
So far, 238 people have logged positive results within the app.
That’s a small fraction of the roughly 50,000 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state since the app launched in early August.
