State health officials are urging North Carolinians to download the “SlowCOVIDNC” app, saying it’s more important now than ever to get people on board.
The app uses Bluetooth technology to notify users if they’ve been in the vicinity of someone who’s tested positive.
Since the start of the pandemic, state and county leaders have mostly relied on phone-tree style contact tracing to slow the spread, by calling people who receive a positive result to figure out where they’ve been and with who, then notifying who they can of the potential exposure.
As the WCNC Charlotte Defenders have reported, a litany of issues have stalled the process. From county leaders frustrated by the lack of responsiveness to community members who said they were either never notified, or contacted too late.
“One of the things about contact tracing, that process can take days or weeks,” Sam Gibbs, DHHS’ Deputy Secretary for Technology and Operations, said.
Gibbs helped launch the “SlowCovidNC” app.
