NCDHHS Launches ‘SlowCOVIDNC’ Exposure Notification App; Available for Download Today | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    RALEIGH     The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has launched a COVID-19 Exposure Notification app called 'SlowCOVIDNC' today, Sept. 22. The app will help North Carolinians slow the spread of the virus by alerting them when they may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. It is completely anonymous and does not collect, store or share personal information or location data.

    SlowCOVIDNC, which leverages Google and Apple's Exposure Notification System (ENS), alerts users who have the app if they have been in close contact with an individual who later tests positive for COVID-19. It is voluntary to download and use and designed to enhance the state's existing contact tracing efforts. The app completed Beta testing earlier this month and can now be downloaded for free through the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

    "With SlowCOVIDNC App, North Carolinians have another powerful tool to help slow the spread of COVID-19 right in their pockets. Downloading SlowCOVIDNC is a practical step each of us can take to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our state," said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D.

    Here's how SlowCOVIDNC will work:

  1. Download the free SlowCOVIDNC Exposure Notification app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and enable Bluetooth and Exposure Notifications. Bluetooth must be on for the app to work.
  2. After opting-in to receive notifications, the app will generate an anonymous token for the device. A token is a string of random letters which changes every 10-20 minutes and is never linked to identity or location. This protects app user privacy and security.
  3. Through Bluetooth, phones with the SlowCOVIDNC app work in the background (minimizing battery) to exchange these anonymous tokens every few minutes. Phones record how long they are near each other and the Bluetooth signal strength of their exchanges in order to estimate distance.
  4. If an app user tests positive for COVID-19, the individual may obtain a unique PIN to submit in the app. This voluntary and anonymous reporting notifies others who have downloaded the app that they may have been in close contact with someone in the last 14 days who has tested positive.
  5. PINs will be provided to app users who receive a positive COVID-19 test result through a web-based PIN Portal, by contacting the Community Care of North Carolina call center, or by contacting their Local Health Department.
  6. SlowCOVIDNC periodically downloads tokens from the server from the devices of users who have anonymously reported a positive test. Phones then use records of the signal strength and duration of exposures with those tokens to calculate risk and determine if an app user has met a threshold to receive an exposure notification.

    NCDHHS is partnering with institutions of higher education, local businesses and influential North Carolinians to promote SlowCOVIDNC and educate the public about how widespread use of the app can slow the spread of COVID-19.

    To learn more about SlowCOVIDNC and to download the app, visit https://www.covid19.ncdhhs.gov/slowcovidnc, which also includes an FAQ.


  • NC Department of Health and Human Services
  • 2001 Mail Service Center
  • Raleigh, NC 27699-2001
  • Ph: (919) 855-4840
  • news@dhhs.nc.gov

Go Back

HbAD0

Latest Health and Fitness

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a Community Partner Engagement Plan to ensure the voices of North Carolina communities and families continue to be at the center of the department’s work.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Spanish-language Cafecito and tele-town hall on Tuesday, Feb. 27, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
Part of ongoing effort to raise awareness and combat rising congenital syphilis cases
Recognition affirms ECU Health’s commitment to providing highly-reliable, human-centered care
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a new Statewide Peer Warmline on Feb. 20, 2024. The new Peer Warmline will work in tandem with the North Carolina 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by giving callers the option to speak with a Peer Support Specialist.
A subsidiary of one of the largest health insurance agencies in the U.S. was hit by a cyberattack earlier this week from what it believes is a foreign “nation-state” actor, crippling many pharmacies’ ability to process prescriptions across the country.
The John Locke Foundation is supporting a New Bern eye surgeon's legal fight against North Carolina's certificate-of-need restrictions on healthcare providers.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the following statement on the Trails Carolina investigation:
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released a draft of its 2024-25 Olmstead Plan designed to assist people with disabilities to reside in and experience the full benefit of inclusive communities.

HbAD1

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Tues., Feb. 20, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is investing $5.5 million into the FIT Wellness program, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program in the UNC School of Medicine, to improve reentry services for the justice-involved population.
As of Feb. 1, 2024, 346,408 newly eligible North Carolinians are enrolled in Medicaid and now have access to comprehensive health care, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard.
Controversy surrounds a healthcare provider’s decision to block parents from having access to their children’s prescription records.
Members of the North Carolina Rural Health Association (NCRHA) visited Washington, D.C., on Feb. 14, 2024, to meet with elected officials and advocate for policies to improve access to care in rural areas.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the request for proposal to hire the organization that will help manage the Children and Families Specialty Plan.
As part of its commitment to improve the health and well-being of North Carolina children and families, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the launch of its Child Behavioral Health dashboard.
February is National Children's Dental Health Month, and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is emphasizing the importance of children's dental hygiene to overall health and well-being.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top