[LINK] Is COVIDSafe distracting our patients from evidence-based solutions?

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

[COVIDsafe seems to be more of a smoke screen than a sunscreen

Is COVIDSafe distracting our patients from evidence-based solutions?

http://medicalrepublic.com.au/is-covidsafe-distracting-our-patients-from-evidence-based-solutions/31796

20 July 2020

Posted by Francine Crimmins <http://medicalrepublic.com.au/author/francine>

After three months of the Morrison government touting the COVIDSafe app
as a “sunscreen” for the coronavirus pandemic, some GPs say they still
wouldn’t waste their breath recommending it to patients.

The criticism follows consecutive days of triple-digit COVID cases in
Victoria, and concerns that using Bluetooth technology via a phone app
is not a failsafe solution to prevent community transmission
<https://theintercept.com/2020/05/05/coronavirus-bluetooth-contact-tracing/>
–essentially because its signals can be absorbed by surrounding objects,
providing an inaccurate picture of two users’ proximity. 

The $2 million app, launched at the end of April and downloaded more
than 6.6 million times, was touted by Prime Minister Scott Morrison as
“Australia’s ticket to a COVID-safe Australia.”

The app collects data when a user who has the app downloaded and open on
their phone has encountered another user within 1.5m for longer than 15
minutes. 

But while the app was designed to assist state and territory health
authorities in enhancing their contact-tracing, its real-time capability
seems limited. 

According to Victorian health officials, data from the COVIDSafe app was
accessed about 300 times in recent weeks and identified more than 200
close contacts of people who were confirmed as having COVID-19.

The caveat is that those same contacts were also identified through
manual contact-tracing efforts. 

GPs told /The Medical Republic/ on social media that they were concerned
the COVIDSafe app was taking attention away from evidence-based
community prevention methods. 

We have focussed our patient facing comms on:
?Hand hygiene
?Social distancing
?Keeping contact with your GP
I will be happy to revisit this focus as new info comes to hand
??https://t.co/pD26qwULUc

— Dr Nick Tellis (@drnicktellis) July 16, 2020
<https://twitter.com/drnicktellis/status/1283591191066324998?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Dr Paul Ginzi, a GP in north Melbourne, said on Twitter that he wasn’t
recommending his patients download the app.

“I’m focusing my advice on strategies that are helpful,” he said. 

Dr John Drinkwater, a GP in Grafton NSW, said on Twitter that the app
was never fit for purpose, especially on Apple devices.

“As a medical professional my role is to educate based on evidence not
political ideology,” he said.

Other GPs said they felt the app was not a priority for their patients. 

My patients live in very remote communities with patchy phone/ internet
reception. Bit hard to recommend something that is hard to download and
can’t be reliably used in these communities. I’d strongly welcome
telecommunications towers first.

— Allison Hempenstall MD (@Dr_Hempenstall) July 16, 2020
<https://twitter.com/Dr_Hempenstall/status/1283689106547945472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

But despite questions over the efficacy of the app the RACGP, ACRRM and
the RDAA all continue to support the use of COVIDSafe, and are actively
encouraging doctors and their patients to download it.

RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon told /The Medical Republic/ that the
more people who downloaded the software, the more helpful it would be in
tracing the COVID-19 virus.

“The fact that Australia has, relatively speaking, a modest number of
COVID-19 cases means that there has been limited opportunity to
determine the full potential of this app,” he said. 

Dr Nespolon admitted that COVIDSafe was only one tool and was never
designed to replace manual contact tracing. 

“In addition to downloading this app I urge everyone to regularly wash
your hands, keep them away from your mouth and nose, exercise social
distancing, wear a mask where distancing is impractical and listen to
the medical experts, including your GP,” he said. 

But Dr James Parker (PhD), a research director at the Institute for
International Law and the Humanities at the University of Melbourne,
said there was far too little criticism over the efficacy of the app
<https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/efficacy-ideology-and-covidsafe>. 

“If the medical colleges are prepared, while maintaining they are
evidence-based, to invest in what is essentially an ideology – otherwise
called technological solutionism – that might have negative
ramifications if the pandemic continues, and if technology companies
start to infiltrate into these public health spaces more,” he told /The
Medical Republic./ 

“I think we’re approaching a close-to-zero chance of the app picking up
interactions and that’s an important conversation we need to have.

“I don’t know what people are imagining what the real utility of this
app is going to be – I’d love to be proven wrong, but I don’t understand
how it can be meaningfully used.”

Dr Parker suggested that for the same amount of money, the government
could have employed more people to do manual contact tracing, which has
been proven a success in previous outbreaks. 

But the government maintains that the COVIDSafe is here to stay, despite
other countries now abandoning their own tracing apps
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/18/uk-poised-to-abandon-coronavirus-app-in-favour-of-apple-and-google-models>
for a software solution already operating on most smart phones thanks to
technology giants Apple and Google – or “Gapple”. 

Social distancing – evidence
Hand washing – evidence
Masks – use being determined by evidence
hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir – evidence
vaccine research – evidence
drinking bleach – evidence
magic lamps – evidence
App – just install it! It’s shiny tech!

— Dr Tim says please stay at home (@timsenior) July 17, 2020
<https://twitter.com/timsenior/status/1283940926742646789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

-- 

Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Canberra Australia
email: brd at iimetro.com.au