The Department of Public Health reports 163 new COVID-19 cases since the Friday, Sept. 18, report. Cumberland County's case count is now 5,183 with 79 deaths.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) launched a new exposure application today to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have very simple steps to follow to slow the spread of COVID-19 with the 3 Ws and now we have a simple technological solution to add to our toolkit,” says Health Director Dr. Jennifer Green. “The new voluntary app, SlowCOVIDNC, from NCDHHS will help protect yourself, your loved ones and your community—simply by using your phone.”
SlowCOVIDNC Exposure Notification App
Download the SlowCOVIDNC Exposure Notification app, enable your Bluetooth and Exposure Notification settings, and be notified if you have been in close contact with someone who has shared a positive COVID-19 test result in the app.
Once you opt-in to the notification system, you can also anonymously share a positive COVID-19 test result in the app. SlowCOVIDNC protects your identity and privacy while empowering you to protect yourself, your family, and your community.
How it Works
Download the 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. After opting-in to receive notifications, the app will generate an anonymous token for your device. A token is a string of random letters which changes every 10-20 minutes and is never linked to your identity or location but is linked to date. This protects your privacy and security.
Through Bluetooth, your phone and the phones around you 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 to estimate distance.
If you test positive for COVID-19, you 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.
PINs will be provided to app users who receive a positive COVID-19 test result through a web-based PIN Portal or by contacting the Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) call center at 844-628-7223 and press option 9.
SlowCOVIDNC periodically downloads tokens from the server from the devices of users who have anonymously reported a positive test. Your phone then uses its records of the signal strength and duration of exposures with those tokens to calculate risk and determine if you have met a threshold to receive an Exposure Notification.
Your Privacy is Protected
Using SlowCOVIDNC is entirely voluntary, and you can enable or disable it at any time. When using SlowCOVIDNC, your privacy is protected. Tokens will collect and share date, time, signal strength and duration of proximity. No location data or personally identifiable data will ever be collected or stored.
By enabling Bluetooth and Exposure Notifications, you can anonymously share a positive COVID-19 test result to help slow the spread of COVID-19. You may also be notified if you have been in close contact with someone who has shared a positive COVID-19 test result in the app.
Learn more about how your privacy is protected.
NCDHHS has created an online feedback form for users who are experiencing issues related to the app.
Staying Updated
Cumberland County has made it easy for you to stay updated on the latest information about COVID-19. You can visit our COVID-19 webpage, which has a list of COVID-19-related closures and service changes. The county is also sharing important information on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.