“About 100 million Americans now have the ability to get pop-up notifications from local health authorities when they’ve personally spent time near someone who later tested positive for the coronavirus.”
Depending on where you live, you might be able to get notification if you have been exposed to someone at work, school or another public area–by an app on your smart phone. The information is anonymous–no one is tracking your location, unlike many other apps you may be using for social media. This app isn’t perfect, but could be of great help slowing the spread of COVID, particularly when more than 40% of people spreading the disease do so when not showing any symptoms.
“Exposure alerts worked for the governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam. He and the first lady tested positive for the coronavirus in September, and because they had it working on their phones, staff members exposed to them got notified. And they’re picking up steam: In its first few weeks, Colorado’s system was activated by a million residents, or 17 percent of its population.”
States currently using the system:
- Alabama: GuideSafe
- Colorado: CO Exposure Notifications
- Connecticut: Covid Alert CT
- Delaware: Covid Alert DE
- Guam: Guam Covid Alert App
- Maryland: MD Covid Alert
- Michigan: MI Covid Alert
- Nevada: Covid Trace
- New Jersey: Covid Alert NJ
- New York: Covid Alert NY
- North Carolina: SlowCovidNC
- North Dakota: Care19 Alert
- Pennsylvania: Covid Alert PA
- Virginia: Covidwise
- Washington, D.C.: DC Can
- Wyoming: Care19 Alert
And these states have either announced their intent to launch services or are running limited tests:
- Arizona: CovidWatch at the University of Arizona
- California: COVID Notify at University of California campuses
- Hawaii: AlohaSafe Alert
- Oregon
- Washington
Nations around the world are also using similar Bluetooth technology for notifications, including Switzerland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.
For more information, read this article: