Sault Ste. Marie using locally-made app for COVID-19 screening
The City of Sault Ste. Marie is launching a locally developed COVID-19 screening and contact tracing app at its facilities.
Among other things, the CommunityPass app allows people to self-screen for symptoms and check-in to various locations to help with contact tracing.
CommunityPass also stores testing results and proof of COVID-19 vaccination. The app uses beacon technology and Bluetooth. Dr. Lucas Castellani, a physician at Sault Area Hospital and one of the doctors behind the project, said beacons are being installed at various city-run facilities.
“They’re going to put them in most of the community centres and buses,” said Castellani. “So if you have it turned on, on your phone that you have this auto check-in type process through Bluetooth technology, it will automatically check you in.”
GFL Memorial Gardens, which houses the Sault’s vaccination hub, and other facilities such as the John Rhodes Community Centre will have beacons installed by the city.
Brent Lamming, Sault Ste. Marie’s director of community services, said the app comes at a good time as the economy has slowly begun to reopen.
“It’s totally voluntary -- it’s not mandatory by any means,” said Lamming. “But it’s another tool in the toolbox to be able to utilize to help with contact tracing and to store your vaccination results in a one-stop spot.”
Castellani said beacons are being offered to small businesses at no cost, while the app is free for individuals to download. He said CommunityPass could be used beyond the current pandemic should we experience another one down the road.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire' are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Early results from London, U.K., suggest Labour's Sadiq Khan will secure a record third term as mayor
Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party's mayor of London, appeared Saturday to be romping to victory as results from the capital pour in.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.