Memorandum
To: All GLWA Team Members
From: Jeffery E. Small, CIO
Date: November 18, 2020
RE: Coronavirus Update #81 – Downloading the New MI COVID ALERT Mobile App
The health and safety of our team members continues to be a top priority for GLWA. Given the steady increase in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases occurring throughout Michigan and the country, it remains very important that we follow recommended COVID-19 safety and prevention protocols and policies at work and continue to be vigilant in our home lives.
Wearing masks, social distancing, and handwashing all help to slow the spread of COVID 19. Contact tracing is another key tool in the toolkit to help fight this deadly virus. Contact tracing helps protect you, your family, and your community by letting people know that they may have been exposed to COVID-19 and should monitor their health for signs and symptoms or get tested for the virus.
The state of Michigan has expanded its efforts around contact tracing to include the launch of a statewide voluntary, free coronavirus phone app, MI COVID ALERT, which notifies users if they have potentially been in close contact with anyone who has COVID-19. The app is free, it’s easy to download and use, and it doesn’t take up a lot of lot of battery life. The app uses Bluetooth technology and randomly generated codes to track people’s locations. App users who were possibly within six feet of anyone who has COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes are notified and urged to monitor for symptoms, be tested, and self-isolate. Users are never told who tested positive.
Here are a few key features:
- Use of the MI COVID ALERT app is voluntary;
- Upon downloading, you choose what information you want to share, or not share;
- App users are never asked for your name, age, or address;
- No personally identifiable information is ever collected or processed from the app. (However, if the app user receives a push notification that they may have been exposed, a virtual agent may ask the app user for their name and phone number. This information would be used to connect app users to their local health department and may be used to enroll app users in contact monitoring.);
- If your phone was within six feet of another user who tested positive for at least 15 minutes, you will receive an exposure notification and information on recommended next steps;
- If you test positive for COVID-19 and the State’s Contact Tracing Team calls you to ask about your close contacts, they will ask if you have the app;
- If you have the app, the Contact Tracing Team will ask you to upload the anonymous IDs that your phone has shared for the last 14 days. Please note that this is voluntary. If you agree, the Contract Tracing Team will send you a unique pin to unlock the upload functionality to then alert anyone you’ve been in close contact with to alert them of their potential exposure;
- App users will always remain anonymous to other app users, even when reporting positive results. Other app users will never know your name, who you met with, what locations you were in or who tested positive.
The health and safety of GLWA team members and their families is a top priority. GLWA encourages all team members to help slow the spread of COVID-19 by protecting yourself and others by:
- Going to the app store on your phone and downloading the MI COVID ALERT app:
- For instruction on how to download the app on your Android device, click here;
- For instructions on how to download the app on your IOS/Apple device, click here;
- Choosing what information you want to share; and
- Asking your friends and family to do the same.
Thank you for your dedication to staying safe!
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