U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) recently called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a technology assessment of COVID-19 contact tracing applications.
The lawmakers’ request would provide additional information to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee Republicans’ work in contact tracing and overall oversight of response efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Rep. Walden, ranking member of the E&C Committee, and Rep. Burgess, ranking member of the E&C Health Subcommittee. They were joined in making their request by U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), ranking member of the E&C Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.
“We understand that contact tracing applications (apps) are a relatively new technology that can help reduce transmission rates for highly infectious diseases like COVID-19 by rapidly identifying and notifying people who may have been in contact with infected individuals,” the members wrote in an Oct. 9 letter sent to U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. “We are also interested in the relationship between testing and state contact tracing programs.”
The lawmakers pointed out that in the United States, contact tracing apps have primarily been offered by states and not much is known about the challenges they may be facing in implementing the use of such technologies.
“Challenges that may reduce the effectiveness of these technologies include low-adoption rates, testing delays, privacy concerns, and interoperability of the apps,” according to their letter. “Further, it has been brought to our attention that some countries have successfully deployed these apps. We are interested in knowing what lessons we can learn from those countries.”
Contact tracing was one aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic that E&C Committee Republicans studied as part of the Second Wave Preparedness Project, which includes ideas that could lead to better surveillance of infectious diseases.
Among the other questions the lawmakers asked Dodaro to answer were those around what policy options could address challenges to the increased use of contact tracing apps.