Health Canada continues to push more people to download the COVID-19 warning app

Health, a key player in the government’s pandemic response, continues to bring more people to download Canada’s COVID-19 warning app.

The COVID-19 warning app has been downloaded more than 3.4 million times since its launch in late July, with Health Canada reporting that most of these downloads came from Ontario.

While some say they still have privacy issues with the app, Richard Lachman, a digital professor at Ryerson University, told CityNews that the app uses Bluetooth to exchange random codes with nearby users.

“When the app tells anyone that you might be exposed, it does not tell your employer and it does not tell the government, ‘I’m going to write the test now, I have to decide’ I’m going to stay for two weeks’, and we hope people will do that,” Lachman said.

At least 850 users across the country have reported a positive test with this tool, and federal officials say it will be more effective if more users install it.

The app is only available on certain devices, and the technology is not available to virus-infected grassroots.