Ontario working to expand awareness, influence downloads of COVID Alert app

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is lending a helping hand.

The Ford government announced on Thursday that it has partnered with MLSE to “encourage more people to download the ‘COVID Alert app’ and help protect people across the country from the pandemic.”

The government has also launched a new webpage that they say will provide people with the tools they need to promote and further grow the app.

“One of the best and simplest ways to protect you, your family and people around you from COVID-19 is to download the made-in-Ontario COVID Alert app,” Premier Doug Ford said.

“We have already seen tremendous support from all corners of the province – and the country – with millions doing their part. I am proud to say that the Prime Minister, my fellow premiers, mayors and CEOs from some of Canada’s largest institutions are stepping up.”

“I encourage everyone to participate because we need all of us pulling in the same direction to make this COVID Alert app work,” Ford added.

More than 4.4 million Canadians have downloaded the COVID Alert app. If you’re not one of them, click here and add it to your phone now: https://t.co/8JFXHZROYN. Then you can get back to scrolling through social media – while also doing your part to slow the spread of COVID-19.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 15, 2020

This comes as a number of Canadians continue to report glitches on the app, particularly with the iPhone and IOS, that mistakenly inform – and subsequently alarm – people that they may have been in contact with someone that recently tested positive.

Health Canada says the software used and developed by the iPhone logs potential exposures in a different, broader, way than the app itself does.

On Thursday, Nova Scotia became the latest province to join the COVID Alert app, leaving Alberta and British Columbia as the only provinces that aren’t allowing residents to report a positive test through the app.