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The apps, which can automatically notify students who may have been exposed to the virus and prompt them to get tested, will be “very important” for containment, Dosch said. The aim is to complete the manual process of contact tracing, which relies on people who test positive for the virus remember where they have been and who may have been exposed.
Yet college campuses present their own unique challenges that could make digital tracking ineffective. Their community setting can be a particularly difficult place to track the spread of disease. A contact tracer typically needs to track down three or four contacts per infected person – a number that could be 10 times higher on a crowded college campus, Dosch said.
“[Students] more likely to be in the student union, to go out at night, ”Dosch said. We’re adding contact tracers very quickly, but we’re concerned. “
The pandemic is also exacerbating health problems that universities find it difficult to manage under normal circumstances, said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Student health centers are often underfunded and understaffed, resulting in inappropriate diagnoses and long wait times.
“Most colleges and universities are not prepared for a surge in health problems,” Pasquerella said.
Underage alcohol and drug use at parties may make students more reluctant to report their contacts. Already, major outbreaks this summer have been linked to fraternities, even before most students return to campus.
An effective contact tracing program also relies on robust access to testing, as well as plans to isolate infected patients and those exposed to the virus. Researchers suggested testing every other day for a safer reopening, although the June CDC guidelines say re-entry testing has not been “systematically studied.” Without a coordinated strategy for testing and isolating contacts, policies differ from campus to campus.
Even though some campuses require students to download the tracing apps, some privacy attorneys have warned that it was not clear if there were limits to how schools can use the data they have. ‘they generate. Kirk Nahra of law firm Wilmer Hale said schools should explain and set applicable guidelines so that students have confidence that schools are not misusing their data or exposing potentially sensitive information about their movements. off campus.
At Rice University in Houston, which plans to host around 3,000 undergraduates this fall, students will need to download a contact tracing app from emergency notification company Everbridge. Similar to Apple-Google tracing technology, the Everbridge app uses a Bluetooth signal to track proximity to other app users, but it also allows users to manually enter symptom data that could be useful for contact the plotters.
Rice’s application requirement extends to all returning students, even if they do not live in on-campus accommodation, said Klara Jelinkova, vice president of international operations and IT. However, a school spokesperson said there does not appear to be a penalty for students who do not download the app.
Even with the mandate to use these apps, there is no guarantee that students will comply, university officials said.
“Unless you check someone’s phone to see if it’s there, there’s no way to see if anyone has downloaded the app,” said Schroeder of the University of Lethbridge. ‘Arizona.
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