Governor Tim Walz and other healthcare officials in Minnesota are urging residents to download a free app that notifies them if someone who has been near them later tests positive for COVID-19. Walz urged residents on Monday to download the app if someone in their area later tests positive for coronavirus so they can anonymously warn others if they test positive. Walz also said he would call a special session of parliament to pass measures to help small businesses cope with the fallout from his move last week to tighten restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, including a ban on the use of cellphones and other electronic devices in public places.
The governor said he was working with House Democratic Majority Leader Ryan Winkler on details to help stimulate the economy. Walz told reporters he plans to announce details Tuesday and that the proposals will include tax incentives for companies that sell food and beverages, waiving state royalties, tax credits for small business owners and their employees and repealing the $1.5 billion in state tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.
The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store for iPhones and from Google Play for Android phones. The technology developed by Google and Apple is used to notify those who have used the exposure to slow the spread of COVID-19. If communities are willing to adopt the app and use it to report positive test results and follow health recommendations when informed of the exposure, it will help the public be able to save lives and allow routine group activities to return sooner. The use of the app “COVIDaware MN” is voluntary and that the system includes comprehensive data protection guarantees for all participants.
It uses Bluetooth technology to detect whether a user is within 1.8 meters of another user, which is the federal definition of close contact.
If you test positive, your contact tracker will ask you if you are using the app, and if so, you will receive a confirmation code that will be entered into the app. The app does not tell users if other users have been so close to them in the past two weeks or if they have been exposed themselves. Then there are guidelines on how to test users and keep them and their environment safe, including a 14-day quarantine.
The system is based on an anonymous key, which is a random number that changes frequently. It does not use any other technology that would track a user’s location, and it does not use information that would identify the user. No information about user identification would be shared with Apple, Google or the state.
The key is deleted every two weeks, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the state’s Office of Public Safety and Security.
The departments are working together to promote the app in all communities. The app will complement the state’s current ability to track contacts because exposure can be difficult to pinpoint because people often don’t know where they’ve been infected with the virus. Virginia was the first state to introduce the system in August, and Colorado was the last, ahead of Minnesota.
Hospitals in Minnesota treated 1,778 people with COVID-19 as of Monday, including 364 in intensive care. Monday’s figures tend to be lower than the rest of the week because there is less testing over the weekend. The Minnesota Department of Health reports that the total number of pandemic deaths rose to 2,737 in the first week, bringing the total to 3,826, or about 1.5% of all deaths in the country.