Could Contact-Tracing Apps Help With the Hantavirus? Not Really
May 10, 2026 7:00 AM
Contact-tracing apps were widely deployed during the Covid pandemic. They aren’t as helpful during smaller outbreaks.
Photograph: Bill Clark/Getty Images
After three people died on a cruise ship struck by a hantavirus, authorities are actively tracking down 29 people who had left the ship. They’re trying to trace the spread of the virus. It’s a long, arduous, global process to find and notify people who might be at risk of infection.
Hey, wasn’t there supposed to be an app for that?
Contact-tracing apps were a global effort starting in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Enabled by phone companies like Apple and Google, contact tracing was designed to use Bluetooth connections to detect when people had come in contact with someone who had or would later test positive for Covid and report as much. It didn’t do much to solve the spread of the...
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