The COVID Alert PA App (App) is made to be had by using the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH). The App is designed to help in alerting individuals that got here in near proximity with a person who later exams fantastic for COVID-19, and to provide records approximately the virus and steps for controlling the unfold of the virus.
The use of this App is absolutely voluntary, and it’s miles to be had to download at no cost from the Google Play Store. The App runs on Android telephones going for walks Android 6.Zero and higher. You have to be as a minimum 18 years of age with a view to receive these phrases and use the App. If you’re among the ages of thirteen and 17, you could best use this App if your parent or felony father or mother has reviewed and agreed to the usage of the App to your behalf. A figure or legal guardian must verify that you could use the App by way of consenting upon download and preliminary utilization of the App. The App isn’t meant for use by means of youngsters
under the age of 13.,
How the COVID Alert PA App works
As opposed to the conventional settlement tracing procedure wherein a superb COVID-19 individual won’t even recollect who they had been in contact with these days and for how long (as an example, if the touch came about on a bus or a train or some other public venue), the App makes use of technology evolved through Apple and Google where nameless Random IDs (pseudo random alpha numeric values) are exchanged between cellular phones. A Random ID is generated by means of the cellphone each 10 to twenty minutes to hold privacy and security. If you are close to a person who also uses the App on their phone, your Random ID could be stored on that person’s cellphone and their Random ID can be saved for your cellphone. All Random IDs amassed will stay to your mobile tool, however neither you, nor each person else, could be capable of see them. These nameless Random IDs can’t screen your identity to other users, DOH, Apple, Google or all people else.
If an individual gets a advantageous COVID-19 diagnosis, they’ll receive a name from DOH or their neighborhood county or municipal fitness branch within 24-seventy two hours for case research and make contact with tracing purposes. If that character has the App downloaded a 6-digit validation code can be sent to them via SMS/text message to be entered into the App, which then gives the character the choice to add their Random IDs to a DOH analysis keys server.
Users who have been in near touch with a fine COVID-19 character who submitted their 6-digit code inside the app will acquire an Exposure Alert. The app is aware of when to offer the consumer with an Exposure Alert with the aid of downloading the modern diagnosis keys from the server each four hours and checking for suits. These diagnosis keys are checked for matches in opposition to the Random IDs of the contacts which have been accrued with the aid of your telephone. If there may be a suit, you may be notified within the app that you were in near contact with a person who was recently recognized with COVID-19. This is known as an “Exposure Alert. To ensure that Exposure Alerts work nicely, customers should have COVID-19 Exposure Notification Services (ENS) enabled on their phone. Users have the choice to enable the COVID-19 ENS and allow their smartphone to show notifications once they were uncovered to someone who has examined nice for COVID-19. Users can flip off this capability inside the settings web page of the App.
In the event you acquire an Exposure Notification, you may be presented advice on the Exposure Notification Information display screen, and if you would love to speak with a public fitness consultant, you may offer your smartphone quantity and someone from DOH will call you.
It is essential to note that each traditional contact tracing and the App by no means screen the identification of any individual using the App to different App users, and never display who has been identified as high quality for COVID-19. Also, in case you do no longer need a name from a public fitness consultant and do now not enter your phone range, DOH will not recognize whether or not you’ve got obtained an Exposure Notification.
