Cedar Rapids Today

Iowa public health officials continue COVID-19 contact tracing as Apple and Google announced an app that could let users know if they’ve come in contact with someone who has the virus, according to The Gazette. 

Contact tracing is a feature that traces the steps of someone diagnosed with the disease in an effort to determine how they got it and who they might have exposed, is still going strong in Iowa.

In light of Apple and Google’s new app, that could be released as early as mid-May, Patricia Quinlisk, who once serve as the state epidemiologist and medical director, explained how quickly the virus can spread for many, who might not even know they have it.

She told The Gazette, “For most people, in a several day period, you could expose an awful lot of people. That’s why we are recommending social isolation. We are trying to reduce the number of people getting exposed to any other person.”

While there’s much that’s unknown about the coronavirus pandemic, like the span of its spread or the length of its life once in the atmosphere, Quinlisk said one thing that is known is that it has the capacity to spread seemingly like wildfire.

“Right now, my understanding is there is concern that COVID-19, the super spreader phenomena may be something that’s happening,” she said to The Gazette. “I don’t know if anybody knows for sure, but that’s something that would be of concern, and since you can’t just look at somebody and identify that, then you have more stringent actions to stop one person from exposing other people because you don’t want to have any super spreader spread.”

At the same time, the Iowa Department of Public Health has taken steps to at least provide resources to assist with contact tracing, especially as new cases continue to arise for now.