Colleges look to apps that screen for virus symptoms and trace contacts

Last week, representatives from the University of Alabama at Birmingham called for 20,000 participants to test a new mobile app that its researchers helped develop. It will alert them if they've recently been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus. Based on tools built by Apple and Google, the GuideSafe exposure notification app determines the proximity of two people by assessing the signal strength between their smartphones. If a user indicates they've contracted the virus, it sends alerts about potential exposure to anyone who has been within six feet of them for at least 15 minutes over the past two weeks.