LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada is adding another voluntary, free app to efforts to track person-to-person coronavirus contacts, with the launch on Thursday of the Exposure Notification Express program developed by Apple and Google.
The Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that Nevada will be the first state to use both ENX and a COVID Trace app the state launched Aug. 24. COVID Trace currently has more than 130,000 downloads.
COVID Trace currently has more than 130,000 downloads, representing a fraction of the more than 3 million people in a state where 176,334 cases of COVID-19 have been reported since March, and 2,384 deaths.
ENX will be available starting Thursday in all Apple devices, said Julia Peek, the state official overseeing contact tracing efforts in Nevada, and COVID Trace will continue to be available in both the iOS App Store and Android’s Google Play Store.
Peek said the apps are “completely anonymous, private and secure.”
By opting-in, app users receive COVID-19 notifications informing them if they have been near someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and reported their exposure to the program.
ENX and COVID Trace both use Bluetooth technology and will work together, Peek said. Cellphones exchange random codes without revealing a user’s identity or location.