CA Coronavirus Notify App To Offer Statewide Exposure Tracking

CALIFORNIA — A University of California piloted program for tracking coronavirus cases will go statewide Thursday. The new opt-in notification system for cell phones will alert Californians if they came into close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

The "CA Notify" app will allow California residents to opt-in Thursday to begin receiving notifications on their smartphones. State officials hope the new tool will help curb the transmission of COVID-19 this winter as cases and hospitalizations surge to critical levels.

The app was first piloted on five UC campuses including San Diego, Berkeley and San Francisco, where more than 250,000 staff, faculty and students opted in. Officials said the pilot was successful on college campuses, but it will require a lot more Californians to opt in to see widespread success in reducing transmission statewide.

"The more people that participate in it, the more effective this program can be,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom during a news briefing Monday. "[This is] another tool in our toolkit in terms of impacting the spread and transmission rate of this virus."

The program will not replace the state's other contact-tracing efforts, but will supplement those efforts, he said.

Those who opt-in will get a notification if another user they came into contact with tests positive for COVID-19. The notification will contain a verification code to plug into the app if they so choose. Then, any other user who has been within 6-feet of distance for 15 minutes or more of the coronavirus positive person will also be notified.

And users who test positive for the virus will get a text from the state's Department of Public Health with a code to enter into the app, which will trigger an anonymous alert to phones of those who were around that person in the last 14 days.

“When combined with other actions like wearing masks and physical distancing, CA Notify can help curb the transmission of COVID-19,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's health secretary, in a news release Monday. “Every day that is saved in alerting others of possible exposure, is a day that a possibly infectious person can begin self-quarantine and reduce the spread. This technology is another way for Californians to take proactive steps to keep themselves, their loved ones and their communities safe.”

But developers and officials want users to know that the app does not track or collect a device's location to detect exposure. Developed by Google and Apple, the app uses Bluetooth to exchange "random codes" between cellular devices without revealing a participant's identity.

To opt-in, iPhone users can simply sign up for notifications through their phone's settings without downloading the app, while Android users will have to download the CA Notify App, which will be available Thursday in the Google Play Store.

“Our pilot experience starting at UC San Diego and expanding to other UC campuses showed this technology was effective in identifying exposed individuals early for quarantine and testing and helping keep our communities as safe as possible,” said Christopher Longhurst, MD, chief information officer of UC San Diego Health in a news release.

The new app comes at a time when cases and hospitalizations have risen to meet the rest of the country in an all time high since the weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The state is now averaging 20,000 per day and hit a staggering 24,735 reported before noon on Monday.

Intensive Care Unit capacity has continued to plummet, which triggered Newsom's regional stay-at-home order for some 33 million Californians that began Sunday night, effectively shutting down dine-in restaurants, movie theaters, playgrounds and indoor gyms.

So far, there have been 19,935 deaths recorded in the Golden State, with 59 deaths reported Monday. More than 374 new patients were admitted for coronavirus on Monday, adding to a total of 10,998 hospitalized patients in California, a 3.4 increase from Sunday.