COVID Alert app update - Have you downloaded the COVID Alert app yet?
March 16, 2021 - Defence Stories
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Beginning in March 2021, Canadian Forces Health Services Group will issue one-time keys for the COVID Alert app when a CAF member is diagnosed with COVID-19.
Since its launch in fall 2020, over 6 million Canadians have downloaded Canada’s free COVID Alert app, and over 20,000 one-time keys have been provided, helping to alert other app users that they were exposed to COVID-19. Not only can the app alert you to possible exposures before you have symptoms – it is an additional public health preventive tool for all Canadians to use to contribute to limiting the spread of COVID-19 and preventing future outbreaks, as well as protecting themselves. All members of the Defence Team, as well as their friends and families, are strongly encouraged to download and use the app on a voluntary basis.
COVID Alert should be installed on one device only, generally the one that you carry with you most frequently. For most of the Defence Team, this will be their personal device, but downloading it to Department of National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces-issued smartphones is permitted. The COVID Alert web page provides detailed information on the app, as well as links to download it.
Beginning in March 2021, Canadian Forces Health Services Group will issue one-time keys for the COVID Alert app when a CAF member is diagnosed with COVID-19.
CAF members: If you’re diagnosed with COVID-19 by your supporting Health Services Centre, they will provide you with a COVID Alert app one-time key. Uploading this one-time key into the COVID Alert app on your device will send out notifications to any other COVID Alert app users who might have been a close contact, to let them know they should consult a medical provider for advice. Even in provinces where civilian public health authorities aren’t providing one-time keys, CAF members will be provided them and they will still work. This is an important way to make sure that anyone who might have contracted COVID-19 is quickly informed, to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the CAF, and in our communities. In cases where CAF members are diagnosed directly by provincial or territorial public health authorities and not the CAF, they will generally receive a one-time key from that health authority, and not CFHS. It is important to note – if you are diagnosed with COVID-19, you will still need to be interviewed by a contact tracer to ensure that everyone who might be at risk is made aware.
Civilian Defence Team members will continue to receive one-time keys from their public health authority to enter into the app if they test positive for COVID-19.
COVID Alert complements existing public health preventive measures such as maintaining good hand and respiratory hygiene, respecting physical distancing, and wearing non-medical masks or face coverings when physical distancing is not possible. By advising people of possible exposure to COVID-19, the COVID Alert app helps limit the spread of infection and prevent future outbreaks by prompting individuals to self-monitor for symptoms, get tested if the symptoms warrant, and, if they test positive, take measures to ensure they do not spread the virus further.
COVID Alert uses strong measures to protect the privacy of any data it collects. The app does not track a user’s location. It does not collect their name or address. It does not collect personally identifiable information.
COVID Alert does not replace manual contact tracing by local public health authorities, nor medical advice. If you feel sick, go home or stay home and contact your doctor or other health-care provider.
We all have a role to play in preventing the spread of COVID-19, and by downloading and using COVID Alert, we can all contribute to keeping our communities healthy by helping to limit the spread of infection and preventing future outbreaks.
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