HARTFORD, CT (1010 WINS) -- Connecticut on Thursday rolled out a COVID-19 exposure notification app that will alert users if they have been exposed to someone with the virus, as hospitalizations in the state continued to climb.
Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled the Apple- and Android-friendly app, dubbed “COVID Alert CT,” at a news briefing Thursday afternoon.
Residents who download the app — which uses Bluetooth technology — will receive an alert if they have spent 15 minutes or more standing within six feet of a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, he said.
“If you do get an alert that you’ve been in contact with somebody, you’ll get instructions on testing [and] quarantine,” Lamont explained. A contact tracer will follow up with anyone who gets an alert to request more information, he said.
The app provides complete anonymity, and does not share personal or location information with anyone, the governor stressed. New York and New Jersey both launched their own COVID-19 exposure notification apps last month.
“I urge you to do this. I urge you to [download] it now,” he said. “It is exponentially more effective if each and every one of you download this app.”
The state has been testing the app on college campuses in recent weeks, and “it’s working,” he added.
Connecticut on Thursday reported 10 new COVID-19-related fatalities, pushing its death toll to 4,726.
Of the 24,001 COVID-19 test results that came back in the state on Wednesday, 1,158, or 4.82 percent, were positive.
As of Wednesday evening, 617 state residents were hospitalized with COVID-19, up by 33 from Tuesday.
“That’s a number I’m watching carefully,” Lamont said. “We doubled the number of people in hospitals related to COVID-19 in the last two weeks.”
Approximately 100 towns and cities in Connecticut, meanwhile, have now reached "Red Alert" status based on the number of new COVID-19 cases they are reporting, he said.
Connecticut is prepared to expand its hospital capacity if needed, the governor noted. With COVID-19 cases surging across the country, however, the state will have to rely on its own healthcare workers to treat patients if the number of residents hospitalized with the virus continues to climb, he said.
“Last time around, we could bring in nurses and specialists from elsewhere,” he said. “There is no elsewhere right now.”
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