Arizona has an app available, but it is still a work in progress. They have full functionality for two of the universities (UA and NAU) but do not have reporting capability for the rest of the state yet.
I am impressed with the additional detail that the NY version provides and hope it becomes common across all the states (along with interoperability)
I can envision the app being used (along with a temperature measurement) for admittance to group events as an alternative to a COVID-19 antigen test.
Here is what I would like to see added to the Arizona app.
I would like a count of other (non-positive) users I have been close to. This would tell me the app is working and that other users in my vicinity are using the app. It would also tend to indicate that the user has been taking their phone with them so it can record possible exposure (not just leaving it at home on their desk).
I would like a real time date and time displayed on the page that shows no significant exposure (this would reduce the likelihood of people saving a screenshot and using that for admittance)
I would like it set up for near field communication of your exposure level.
Regrettably I do not see or expect widespread acceptance of this technology. Hence my approach of getting into an event is take a 15 min COVID test (for an additional fee) or show the app as a motivator.
I have been sharing the app availability to others with mixed reactions from interest, to I have it but I didn’t turn it on, to active avoidance of me like I was infected. This tells me there is a lot of effective communication needed to make people aware of the technology and to use it.
I hope this will become an effective tool in our effort to combat COVID.
Alas, I don’t think this would work. Aside from the fact that temperature checks are largely worthless, the app’s alerts wouldn’t necessarily happen in time. For instance, let’s say you’re exposed to someone who’s infectious and is also using the app. It might take several more days for them to show symptoms (if they ever do) and get tested, unless they’re a student at a place like Cornell that’s doing twice-weekly surveillance testing (extremely successfully). Even if they do show symptoms, get tested, and report to the app, such that it could notify you, it could easily be several days after you had contracted COVID-19 (again, possibly with no symptoms).
The utility of the alerts is not that their lack gives you an all-clear, but that if you do get one, you know to go get tested right away.
I think that’s a great suggestion. It encourages use and gives you feedback that it would alert you if there was a problem.
I really like reporting to the COVID Alert NY app that I’m feeling well every day.
I haven’t gotten any pushback from anyone I’ve told about it, but very few people have known about it or understood how it worked.
Our old friend Rob Pegoraro wrote about this for USA Today recently. Adoption is low. Which I find frustrating given the privacy-abusing crud that it seems everyone will install without a thought.
I’ve had Pennsylvania’s app installed and activated since it came out. It provides a quick way of seeing how things are progressing in PA on a county by county basis. I’ve also had the NOVID app installed, but I’m apparently the only one in the 168 group of ZIP codes, so of course I’ve never seen an interaction. I got my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine a week ago, so next week I might just turn COVID tracking off.
In California, I haven’t seen any sort of advertising about exposure notification, so I’m not surprised the adoption rate is so low. I wonder how many people even know about it.
Fair point. The only reason I heard about it was because the UC system was used as a testbed during development so we got roped in early to serve as guinea pigs.
There’s covid19.ca.gov, but surprisingly you have to explore the site map there to even find a link to CAnotify.ca.gov which advertises it.
Agreed. New York pushed the COVID Alert NY app briefly. I saw it mentioned just five times in the New York briefing email messages that the Cuomo administration sends out every day, and only in October and early November. Silence since then.
