NYS Creates App to Tell You If You’re Near Someone With COVID-19

New York State has created an app to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

According to a press release, New York State has created its own COVID-19 alert app called COVID Alert NY. The app focuses on exposure notifications. If you were in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, you will get an alert. This is a voluntary and anonymous app. The app uses Bluetooth technology for contact tracing and does not track your location.

The press release states that the more people who download the app, the more effective it will be. The app is free and is available to anyone that is 18 years of age or older, and lives, works, or attends college in New York or New Jersey. The app is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Bengali, Korean, Russian and Haitian Creole.

You can opt-in to alerts that will state if you had potential exposure to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, according to the press release. If you do opt-in, your phone will exchange a secure random code with the other phone to record they were near. The press release promises that the app will never collect, transmit, or store personal information and that it is completely anonymous. Your location will not be tracked and the app uses Bluetooth technology to sense when another person is near with the app. You will be in full control of having alerts on and they can be turned off at any time.

You can find more information about the COVID Alert NY app here.