Santa Cruz County Urges Residents To Participate In CA Notify App

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Santa Cruz County is urging residents to participate in the CA Notify program, which launched across the Golden State Thursday.

CA Notify is an opt-in program on mobile devices that allows users to receive notifications if they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. State officials hope the new tool will help curb the transmission of COVID-19 this winter as cases and hospitalizations surge to critical levels.

“The more people download and use this app, the more helpful it is to our efforts to contain this disease,” said county Health Director Mimi Hall in a news release. “It helps us save lives. Our contact tracers are stretched thin, and every day counts when it comes to alerting others of a possible exposure so that they may begin quarantine and protect those around them.”

For iPhone users, CA Notify can be enabled under "Settings." Scroll down to "Exposure Notifications" and follow the directions to opt in.

Android users can download the app, which became available Thursday.

Find more details on how to opt in here.

Those who opt in will get a notification if another user they came into contact with tests positive for COVID-19. The notification will contain a verification code to plug into the app if they so choose. Then, any other user who has been within 6-feet of distance for 15 minutes or more of the coronavirus positive person will also be notified.

And users who test positive for the virus will get a text from the state's Department of Public Health with a code to enter into the app, which will trigger an anonymous alert to phones of those who were around that person in the last 14 days.

The app was first piloted on five UC campuses including San Diego, Berkeley and San Francisco, where more than 250,000 staff, faculty and students opted in. Officials said the pilot was successful on college campuses, but it will require a lot more Californians to opt in to see widespread success in reducing transmission statewide.

Read more about CA Notify from Patch.