Most Americans can not, or simply refuse, to use apps designed to trace those who have been exposed to the coronavirus, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Google and Apple have been working with public health experts and researchers on programs that allow people who test positive for COVID-19 to notify those they have been in touch with.
But more than half of those surveyed in the poll by the Washington Post and University of Maryland said they either didn’t have a smartphone — or that even if they did, they wouldn’t use the contact-tracing apps.
About 82% of Americans said they had a smartphone, and of those, only half said they would definitely or probably use such an app, the poll found.
Much of the concerns seemed aimed at the tech giants. Only 43 percent of smartphone users said they had “a great deal” or “a good amount” of trust in Google and Apple and other tech companies.
When it came to views on social distancing, 66 percent said restrictions on businesses were “appropriate” and 64 percent approved of current limits on public gatherings.
With Post wires
