{"id":27176,"date":"2020-08-06T22:57:12","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T02:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=27176"},"modified":"2020-08-06T22:57:19","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T02:57:19","slug":"covid-alert-app-now-available-for-download","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/covid-alert-app-now-available-for-download\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID Alert app now available for download"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new app that will alert Ontario residents of potential exposure to COVID-19 is now ready to download.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Newmatket-Aurora MPP Christine Elliott displays the app on Tuesday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the Provincial Government launched the COVID Alert system, an app developed in association with the Federal Government and volunteers from Shopify, to alert users if they may have been exposed to the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially announced in July to both fanfare and concern over privacy from members of the public, the Government says the app is voluntary and \u201csafe to use\u201d \u2013 and the \u201cmore people who have the app, the more effective\u201d it will be in helping to stop the spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCOVID Alert is a new tool that Ontarians can install for free on their device to protect themselves, their loved ones and their community, as the government continues to carefully reopen the province,\u201d said Newmarket-Aurora MPP Christine Elliott. \u201cThis privacy-first, made-in-Ontario app is a key part of the province\u2019s contact management strategy to help the province to quickly test, trace and isolate cases of COVID-19. I encourage all Ontarians to download and use the app, as the more people who use the app, the more it will help to stop the spread of COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The app supports the efforts of public health units, allowing the province to quickly test, trace and isolate cases of COVID-19 to stop the spread of the virus and prepare for any potential outbreaks – without sharing any personal information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If an app user receives a message from COVID Alert that they may have been exposed to the virus, they should follow the public health advice given on the app and get tested. To notify other people if an app user has tested positive for COVID-19, they can enter their one-time key from Ontario\u2019s test results website (Ontario.ca\/covidresults) into the app. A message will then be sent to other app users who have been within two metres of them for at least 15 minutes within the past 14 days, without sending any information that identifies the user, or the time and place of exposure.<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new app that will alert Ontario residents of potential exposure to COVID-19 is now ready to download. Last week, the Provincial Government launched the COVID Alert system, an app developed in association with the Federal Government and volunteers from Shopify, to alert users if they may have been exposed to the virus. Initially announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-74k","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 16:07:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}