University of Maryland launches QR codes for student contact tracing

QR codes - University of Maryland

The school is collecting data on where students are seated in the classrooms to trace COVID-19 exposure. The University of Maryland has launched a new program that uses QR codes to collect student seating data in support of its contact tracing efforts for COVID-19 exposures. The quick response barcodes are scanned when a student enters a classroom at College Park university. When the QR codes are scanned by University of Maryland students upon entering a classroom, it registers the individual’s ID number, and the date and time when they entered…

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Australia chooses QR code check-ins and essentially dumps COVIDSafe app

QR code check-ins - Image of contact tracing app

Though the application started strong, it has fizzled out to the point that its usefulness is low. In Australia, QR code check-ins have become the strategy most people are using to continue the country’s contact tracing efforts. The original intention had been to use the COVIDSafe app for this purpose, but despite starting strong, it isn’t what it was meant to be. Even with strong initial enthusiasm from Australians, most people never downloaded the app. When the COVIDSafe app was first unveiled, about 70 percent of Australians said they liked…

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Contact tracing QR codes help Virginia school keep classrooms and cafeterias safer

Contact tracing QR codes - student in classroom wearing mask

As students return to class, Patriot High School students will scan barcodes to reduce COVID-19 spread. Contact tracing QR codes aren’t a substitute for physical distancing and wearing masks properly, but one school in Virginia is hoping to use them as a tool to further reduce the risk of coronavirus spread. The Prince William County public school is encouraging students to scan quick response codes. Last week, an additional 9,000 students in 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th grades returned to the classroom, following another 22,000 that have already been phased…

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California COVID-19 iPhone contact tracing app launches to provide exposure notifications

California COVID-19 iPhone contact tracing - mobile phone with contact tracing app

Following a pilot program last month, the state has now rolled out the application. The California COVID-19 iPhone contact tracing app was launched last week. This followed a pilot of the application last month, almost six months after Google and Apple first made the Android and iPhone feature available. The state is aiming to use the app to help its 40 million residents to remain safer during the pandemic. Many other US states – and a number of countries worldwide, for that matter – have been using the technology in…

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Valenzuela City to use ValTrace QR codes for contact tracing

ValTrace QR codes - Valenzuela City

The local government in the Philippines municipality is using the barcodes to boost COVID-19 response. The local government of Valenzuela City in the Philippines has decided to use the ValTrace QR codes app to help boost its COVID-19 response’s contact tracing. The free app can be used by residents and non-residents in order to help keep on top of the spread. Both residents and non-residents of the Valenzuela City will be required to use the app in order to gain access to public spaces. They will be required to show…

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