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On a normal
day, the president can't sneeze without generating breaking news alerts.
Now that he's hospitalized with Covid-19, Trump's every handshake and
passing "hello" from the last two weeks is facing intense scrutiny in
the most prominent case of contact tracing to date.
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How it works: Contact tracers make a
list of everyone an infected person came in contact with. Then, they
find those people and tell them to self-isolate before infecting
others.
A few gatherings stand out
President Trump attended at least 10 events
while he may have been infectious, including a nomination ceremony for
his Supreme Court pick. As you can see above, there weren't a lot of
masks or distancing, and at least seven attendees later tested positive,
including the first lady and Utah Sen. Mike Lee.
These events
have also disrupted private sector operations working close to the
administration. A trio of White House journalists recently tested
positive, and ABC News is quarantining staff
who came in contact with Christie during a post-debate broadcast. The
president of the University of Notre Dame, one of 18 faculty who
attended the nomination, tested positive Saturday.
Is that what happens when we get sick?
Don't expect
the national news cycle treatment, but 21% of Americans now have access
to contact tracing tools. Last week, New York and New Jersey became the
ninth and tenth states to release tracing apps, and seven more plus D.C. have apps in testing or development.
- States are using a protocol co-developed by Apple and Google that uses Bluetooth technology to sense close contact to other app users for an extended period of time.
Unlike many
foreign governments, the U.S. left contact tracing to individual states,
igniting concerns about fragmented tracing that doesn't account for
movement across state lines. New York and several surrounding states
have become the first to make their apps talk to each other.
Will it work?
Researchers think an installation rate of just 15% of a population
could help suppress the virus's spread. Virginia's app, which has been
out the longest, has 11%. States are still fighting an uphill battle to
convince the public these apps won't violate their privacy.
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