Contact Tracing to Maintain Mobility at the Border During a Pandemic

This report is Phase II of the COVID and border studies that the TTI researchers had done previously. As a follow-up, the researchers wanted to focus on a commonly used practice to slow down the spread of COVID-19 with a focus on the same El Paso-Juarez region. Contact tracing is an approach to track down anyone that was in close contact with a person who has been diagnosed with the illness. It is considered one of the key practices to slow the spread for all infectious diseases. The traditional way is accomplished through manual interview of the infected individuals. The main challenge with this practice is that people may not accurately recall each person they have been in contact with and cannot identify the people if they do not personally know them. Considering the limitations, researchers started focusing on emerging technology solutions to automate the contact-tracing process. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many smartphone contact-tracing apps have been proposed and deployed. However, the number of downloads and active users remained low worldwide. In the United States, states initiated their programs and have been developing contact-tracing apps; so far, only half of the states have a contact-tracing app for their residents. The apps rely on the users' willingness to participate, and the privacy concerns are still a major obstacle against wide use. Although the effectiveness of contact-tracing apps is questionable, taking advantage of mobile technology is expected to help in transitioning back to daily life while managing the risk of future outbreaks.