Want to go to a B.C. nightclub? There might soon be an app for that

B.C. is not yet signed up to use the COVID Alert app but Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry hinted that she may require people to download the app before entering places like nightclubs.

The app was recently launched in Ontario but is expected to roll out nationally after that province does a test run. According to the federal government, which is touting the app, it will give an alert to its user if they were in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, without the app being able to know or share any other information. It uses bluetooth to send anonymous signals to other phones to establish proximity to other people. 

“We’ve been working with (the federal government) to see how we can tailor it to be a tool that supports the work we’re doing in contact tracing,” Dr. Henry said during a COVID-19 update today, Aug. 6. “I think of some of the parties people are going to and to nightclubs where you might not know everybody there," she said. 

“We have, in B.C., an order where you’re required to take contact information but, understandably perhaps, in some situations not everybody gives accurate contact information. So, if I’m interviewing somebody who’s a case, and I know they went to this nightclub between 9 and 3 in the morning, I can use the app, make sure the nightclub requires anybody who comes in to download the app, and then we can use that to notify people who were also at that place.”

She’s not sure how long it will be before the app comes to B.C.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.