A research agenda for digital proximity tracing apps

Wyl, Viktor von; Bonhoeffer, Sebastian; Bugnion, Edouard; Puhan, Milo A.; Salathé, Marcel; Stadler, Theresa; Troncoso, Carmela; Vayena, Effy; Low, Nicola

doi:10.4414/smw.2020.20324

Cited by 53 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Quarantine of close contacts is also essential to prevent onward transmission during asymptomatic or presymptomatic periods of those that have become infected. Digital, proximity tracing could supplement classical contact tracing to speed up detection of contacts to interrupt transmission during the presymptomatic phase if shown to be effective [19,127]. The findings of this systematic review of publications early in the pandemic suggests that most SARS-CoV-2 infections are not asymptomatic throughout the course of infection.…”

Section: Implications and Unanswered Questionsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Occurrence and transmission potential of asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections: A living systematic review and meta-analysis

et al. 2020

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Background There is disagreement about the level of asymptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. We conducted a living systematic review and metaanalysis to address three questions: (1) Amongst people who become infected with SARS-CoV-2, what proportion does not experience symptoms at all during their infection? (2) Amongst people with SARS-CoV-2 infection who are asymptomatic when diagnosed, what proportion will develop symptoms later? (3) What proportion of SARS-CoV-2 transmission is accounted for by people who are either asymptomatic throughout infection or presymptomatic? Methods and findings We searched PubMed, Embase, bioRxiv, and medRxiv using a database of SARS-CoV-2 literature that is updated daily, on 25 March 2020, 20 April 2020, and 10 June 2020. Studies of people with SARS-CoV-2 diagnosed by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) that documented follow-up and symptom status at the beginning and end of follow-up or modelling studies were included. One reviewer extracted data and a second verified the extraction, with disagreement resolved by discussion or a third reviewer. Risk of bias in empirical studies was assessed with an adapted checklist for case series, and the relevance and credibility of modelling studies were assessed using a published checklist. We included a total of 94 studies. The overall estimate of the proportion of people who become infected with SARS-CoV-2 and remain asymptomatic throughout infection was 20% (95% confidence interval [CI] 17-25) with a prediction interval of 3%-67% in 79 studies that addressed this review question. There was some evidence that biases in the selection of participants influence the estimate. In seven studies of defined populations screened for SARS-CoV-2 and then

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Section: Implications and Unanswered Questionsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Occurrence and transmission potential of asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections: A living systematic review and meta-analysis

et al. 2020

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“…Digital contract tracing is a new method, and it is therefore crucial to rapidly evaluate and continuously monitor its effectiveness in the field. Digital contact tracing apps aim to prevent secondary transmissions by warning exposed contacts as early as possible [7]. To be an effective intervention, several technical, behavioral and procedural conditions must be met [12] (Figure 1).…”

Section: Evaluation Of Privacy-preserving En-based Digital Contact Trmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Exposure Notification (EN) framework, jointly developed by Google and Apple, addressed these limitations and enabled the implementation of digital contact tracing applications (apps) in which all proximity contact information, and any decision-making about whether or not to notify a user of an exposure, remain on a user's device, rather than on the server of a central authority. This approach minimizes privacy risks [6], but the restriction of information to users' devices means that data needed to evaluate the effectiveness of EN-based contact tracing apps have to be collected from different sources [7].…”

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confidence: 99%

Early Evidence of Effectiveness of Digital Contact Tracing for SARS-CoV-2 in Switzerland

Salathé

Althaus

Anderegg

et al. 2020

Preprint

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In the wake of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), contact tracing has become a key element of strategies to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2019 (SARS-CoV-2). Given the rapid and intense spread of SARS-CoV-2, digital contact tracing has emerged as a potential complementary tool to support containment and mitigation efforts. Early modelling studies highlighted the potential of digital contact tracing to break transmission chains, and Google and Apple subsequently developed the Exposure Notification (EN) framework, making it available to the vast majority of smartphones. A growing number of governments have launched or announced EN-based contact tracing apps, but their effectiveness remains unknown. Here, we report early findings of the digital contact tracing app deployment in Switzerland. We demonstrate proof-of-principle that digital contact tracing reaches exposed contacts, who then test positive for SARS-CoV-2. This indicates that digital contact tracing is an effective complementary tool for controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Continued technical improvement and international compatibility can further increase the efficacy, particularly also across country borders.

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“…In particular, debates surrounding data protection, privacy, and voluntariness were featured prominently in our sample, reflecting also the academic discourse. [12] When expert controversies occur, the public relies on the authority of researchers and health professionals as communicated in the media, yet, the difficulty of judging competing expert claims leads to confusion, for if experts cannot agree, who should the public trust and follow? [31] Research has shown that conflicting messages can create skepticism and lead to decreasing public trust in governments' ability to manage a public health crisis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital contact-tracing during the Covid-19 pandemic: an analysis of newspaper coverage in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

Amann

Sleigh

Vayena

2020

Preprint

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Governments around the globe have started to develop and deploy digital contact tracing apps to gain control over the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). The appropriateness and usefulness of these technologies as a containment measure have since sparked political and academic discussions globally. The present paper contributes to this debate through an exploration of how the national daily newspapers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland reported on the development and adoption of digital contact-tracing apps during early and after stages of the lockdown. These countries were among the first in Europe to develop apps and were critical voices in the debate of decentralized vs. centralized data processing. We conducted thematic analysis on news coverage published between January and May 2020 in high-circulation national daily newspapers (print) from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. A total of 148 newspaper articles were included in the final analysis. From our analysis emerged six core themes of the development and adoption of digital contact tracing apps: 1) data governance; 2) role of IT giants; 3) scientific rigor; 4) voluntariness; 5) functional efficacy; 6) role of the app. These results shed light on the different facets of discussion regarding digital contact tracing as portrayed in German-speaking media. As news coverage can serve as a proxy for public perception, this study complements emerging survey data on public perceptions of digital contact tracing apps by identifying potential issues of public concern.

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A research agenda for digital proximity tracing apps

Cited by 53 publications

References 15 publications

Occurrence and transmission potential of asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections: A living systematic review and meta-analysis

Occurrence and transmission potential of asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections: A living systematic review and meta-analysis

Early Evidence of Effectiveness of Digital Contact Tracing for SARS-CoV-2 in Switzerland

Digital contact-tracing during the Covid-19 pandemic: an analysis of newspaper coverage in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

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