Utah announced the launch of a new smartphone app that helps you determine if you have COVID-19, and helps healthcare workers track the spread of the virus.
The “Healthy Together” app keeps track of where you go, so if you test positive for COVID-19, healthcare workers can retrace your steps for the past 30 days and notify anyone who may have been close to you, and therefore at risk.
You have to download the free app to your smart phone. State Epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn points out the great innovation of the app is using Bluetooth technology to help with contact tracing.
“You can imagine that relying on someone's memory for those things can leave some holes and gaps in our contact tracing,” Dunn continued. “So, if you choose to share your data with our contact tracers, we’ll be able to know about the places that you’ve been while you were infectious. It will also provide our contact tracers with a snapshot of other app users who you had significant contact with and potentially exposed with COVID-19 as well. That will allow our contact tracers to follow up directly with anybody who is potentially exposed to COVID-19 and provide them the necessary information to protect themselves and others.”
The app also helps you track your symptoms to help determine whether you need to be tested for COVID-19. The state developed the app through the company Twenty. Developing the beta app was part of a 1.75-million-dollar contract, while another million may be given as part of a future iteration of the app. Co-Founder of the company Jared Allgood says the app was created with a primary goal of supporting public health workers.
“As the state moves from urgency into the stabilization phase and thinks about the future, we believe a tool that supports residents public health and state officials in concert is critical to safely reopening our communities and our economy,” Allgood said.
Users own their location data and can delete it any time. It will be automatically be deleted every 30 days. Symptom data will automatically drop your personal information after 30 days. The app also complies with state requirements for data security and encryption. Governor Gary Herbert recognized that there will be some who will have concerns regarding an entity of the government knowing their location.
“For some we can never get over that hurdle,” Herbert explained. “Their concern that Big Brother watching their every movement. I understand that concern and that fear. So, I don't know that can ever appease everybody, that's why it's voluntary. If you don't feel good about it, if you don’t feel comfortable then we’re not expecting you to participate. We're trying to give every indication that you're in control of the data so you know where it's going.
The beta version of the “Healthy Together” app is free and available in Google and Apple stores now.
