STATEWIDE- The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced that all Coloradans now have access to self-report their COVID-19 status through the Exposure Notifications service.
Users can now share their test results right away, including results from an at-home test, allowing users another option to report a positive COVID-19 test as efficiently as possible.
Colorado has partnered with Google and Apple to create this feature through the service which was requested by many state residents for ways to more quickly and conveniently report their positive COVID-19 cases. Colorado is the first state to roll out this new feature.
“Swift awareness and identification are key to slowing disease transmission in a time when the delta variant is so contagious. Colorado Exposure Notifications can alert individuals who would otherwise be unaware that they have been exposed to the virus, which is especially important for people who are asymptomatic and are unknowingly spreading the virus,” said COVID-19 incident commander Scott Bookman.
Colorado now sends a code to all positive cases that have an accompanying phone number which is reported to the Colorado Electronic Disease Reporting System. For those cases that already have the notifications enabled, they can enter the code or tap the included link to notify others of possible exposure.
To self-report, users have the option to request a verification code for their positive tests. Once their phone number has been validated, the state will send an SMS with a verification code to submit their positive case. The user can then tap the link to go through the steps of alerting others to potential exposure.
The feature is available to Apple and Android users, new users of the notification system as well as those who have Exposure Notifications on their phones.
To protect their privacy, the user has full control to opt in to receive exposure notifications and may turn it off at any time. The service will never track your location as it uses Bluetooth instead of GPS. Your identity will never be revealed to anyone. The service will never collect, transmit or store any of your personal information.
For more information on CO Exposure Notifications, please visit this site.
