Download the COVID Alert NJ app and help keep all New Jersey residents safe

In October, Gov. Bill Murphy (with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in NY), COVID-19 exposure announcement introduces mobile applications Help find and contact people infected with the virus.

The COVID Alert NJ application notifies users of potential COVID-19 exposure while maintaining user privacy and security. This app is free and available to 18 or more people living, working or attending college in New Jersey. May be Downloaded from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

Concerned about privacy? You do not need to be. The NJ Department of Health explains how the application works:

“COVID Alert NJ and COVID Alert NY are completely anonymous and do not monitor or collect any location data or personal data from your phone. COVID alert applications do not use GPS location data. The exposure notification system uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology, which detects when another phone with the same application is under six feet. Proximity is measured, but not geographical location. Users of the COVID Alert app must explicitly choose to enable exposure notifications – and can turn it off at any time. ”

Recently, South Orange village head Sheena Kolam asked residents to download the app “soon”. He acknowledged that he had recently downloaded it because of privacy concerns, but “it’s safe and secure and anonymous.”

Kolam wrote on Facebook:

“If you test positive, a public health representative will contact you (as they already did) and ask if you ever notice ‘close contacts’ by providing a 6-digit verification code to enter your application. நெரு Notification is available without any indication of location, it is nothing. ”

Kolam, for example, said he could use the app to warn people around him that he was in contact with someone if he went to the South Orange Open Air Market on Thursday evening and then tested positive on Saturday. Positive test. But they do not know who it is or where it happened, they know it is time for self-isolation and testing.

“Finding contact is one of the best ways our health professionals can help stop the spread,” Kolam said. “There have been 110 positive test cases in South Orange this month, our worst month. This second wave is a beast.”

Kolam said, “We can use technology to keep each other safe and enable exposure notifications.” But, the application will not work better if more people do not use it. Nearly 7 million adults live in New Jersey – so far only 425,000 or 6% have use. “That’s not enough,” Golam said.