With the launch of the exposure notification apps COVID Alert NJ and COVID Alert NY, Pennsylvanians who downloaded COVID Alert PA will now be able to get notifications to their smartphones if they are exposed to COVID-19 when they travel to these states or to Delaware.
“COVID Alert PA works with COVID Alert NJ, COVID Alert NY and COVID Alert DE, so anyone who has the app in these four states can get a notification from another user if they tested positive for COVID-19,” said Gov. Tom Wolf. “States throughout the region have been working together to combat this pandemic, and this is one more tool for our interstate cooperation. Pennsylvanians stand united with our neighbors in adding our phones to the fight to stop COVID-19.”
COVID Alert PA is a free, voluntary mobile app developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health in partnership with NearForm, University of Pennsylvania and MIT Lincoln Laboratory using the Apple and Google Exposure Notification System. The app’s features include an interactive COVID-19 symptom checker, alerts of potential exposures to the virus, updates on the latest public health data about COVID-19 in PA and public health guidance for what to do if you have a potential exposure to COVID-19.
The app doesn’t use GPS, location services or any movement or geographical information. It will never collect, transmit or store personal information. It is completely anonymous.
COVID Alert PA will continue to exchange anonymous Bluetooth keys with other app users, including outside of Pennsylvania. The Exposure Notification System will only work if the state that you are traveling to also has exposure notification mobile app interoperable through Association of Public Health Laboratories, like the states of Delaware, New York and New Jersey.
More than 180,000 Pennsylvanians have downloaded COVID Alert PA since it launched on Sept. 22. In addition, Delaware has more than 30,000 downloads.
The app can be found in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store by searching for “COVID Alert PA.”
Click here for more information.
