KU prof creates mobile COVID app

To help keep students safe from COVID when school opens this fall, the University of Kansas will use a mobile health app designed with an emphasis on privacy. The app, called CVKey, is the brainchild of Brian McClendon, a former Google vice president and a research professor at KU.

The CVKey app includes an anonymous symptom checker, the latest info about the pandemic, and an app-generated QR code to give users access to campus buildings.

The group plans to provide the app to other universities and organizations. After a successful pilot project, the University of Kansas will reopen to students, faculty, and staff this fall by requiring them to use the app to check for symptoms of the COVID-19 virus before allowing them entrance to campus buildings.