Drexel Univ. adopts contact tracing app for students, staff, faculty

UNIVERSITY CITY (WPVI) -- Drexel University is planning for at least some in-person teaching next month.

To help monitor COVID-19 cases, the university has a contact tracing app already up & running.

Drexel partnered with MyOwnMed, a company founded by former FDA experts. They created the app for clinical trials in the medical school.

When the pandemic started, it was adapted to monitor symptoms and contacts among Drexel's staff.

This fall, students and faculty will also use it.

"It allows us to place people in time and space on our campus, and therefore, it does help identify those with symptoms, identify those who become positive from testing, and then allows us to facilitate contact tracing," says Dr Charles Cairns, dean of the school of medicine.

With feedback from staff, the app has evolved through 4 versions, to make sure it works exactly as users and administrators want.

All of the information is private, and secure - issues which were worked out during the original creation of the app.

Through the program, Drexel also hopes to learn more about people with the virus, who don't show the usual symptoms.