RICHMOND, Va. (WSET) – The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced the completion of an app aimed at notifying Virginians about COVID-19 infections in their areas.
On Monday, VDH said the COVIDWISE exposure notification app will be removed when the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) disables the national key server when the national public fitness emergency ends on May 11.
More than 3 million users have downloaded the COVIDWISE app and/or activated COVIDWISE Express, an app-free edition for iPhone users.
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COVIDWISE has alerted thousands of users if they have been in close contact with those who anonymously reported a positive COVID-19 verification result. The app and COVIDWISE Express used Bluetooth generation to temporarily notify users that they would possibly be exposed to COVID-19 for the purpose of reducing the threat of infection and preventing disease transmission.
The COVIDWISE app, which was introduced in early August 2020, was the first exposure notification app in the U. S. No non-public knowledge has been collected, stored, tracked or transmitted to VDH as a component of the app or the Express Version, shared through decomposition.
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COVIDWISE works across state lines, adding Washington D. C. and more than 20 states that have exposure reporting systems similar to the National Key Server. This allowed users to get exposure notifications from other people in states or jurisdictions involved.
When the app is disabled on May 11, users will be able to remove it from their phone. COVIDWISE Express users can disable exposure notifications in the settings.
Regardless, VDH said the Bluetooth generation that COVIDWISE works will no longer work for the app or COVIDWISE Express.
To learn more about COVID-19 in Virginia, stop by www. vdh. virginia. gov/coronavirus. For your COVID-19 vaccine registration, please make a stop at the COVID-19 Vaccine Records Request portal.