Alabamians can now download a mobile app that informs users of potential exposure of COVID-19.
Alabama is one of the first states in the U.S. to launch the GuideSafe Notification App to the general public. University of Alabama Birmingham Chief Information Officer Dr. Curtis Carver said this app is an easy-to-use tool that will help control the spread of the virus.
“All you have to do is install it, enable it and you’re done,” Carver said. “It will do the magic for you. It’s not required but the more people who use it the more powerful it is. As long as its running in background, it will only bother you if there’s a positive notification,” Carver said.
Dr. Sue Feldman, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in Health Informatics at UAB said this app will be especially helpful for larger groups of people including students returning to school.
“Imagine everybody in a fraternity or sorority house,” Feldman said. “Everybody in that group should have it downloaded. If you imagine going to an event, let’s say a conference or something like that, we would want everybody in that group to have it downloaded.”
The app notifies users who may have been in contact with someone who is COVID-positive. Anyone who tests positive is encouraged to notate their status on the app as well.
