SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is rolling out a voluntary smartphone tool to alert people if they spent time near someone who tests positive for the coronavirus as cases and hospitalizations soar throughout the state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the tool on Monday and said people could opt in to use it starting on Thursday, Thursday, Dec. 10. Officials say the tool doesn’t track people’s identities or locations but uses Bluetooth wireless signals to detect when two phones are within 6 feet of each other for at least 15 minutes.
The CA Notify app would alert users when they came into contact with a person who tested positive up to 14 days before the person's test results came in. The app relies on whether people download and enable the app and volunteer whether they test positive for COVID-19.
Sixteen other states plus Guam and Washington, D.C. have made available the system co-created by Apple and Google. Most residents of those places aren’t using it.
This news follows as California officials have imposed a new stay-at-home order on more than 33 million people that bars restaurant dining, shutters salons and limits retail to curb spiraling coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.
The new rules took effect just before midnight Sunday for Southern California, and a large swath of the Central Valley also prohibits residents from gathering with people not in their households. The rules were triggered when available capacity in the region's intensive care units fell below 15%.
Five counties in the San Francisco Bay voluntarily adopted the new rules because they did not want their ICUs to fill up before taking action. The Greater Sacramento Region could see ICU capacity fall below 15% the week of Dec. 7, 2020.
Some local law enforcement said they would not enforce the rules and count on residents to wear masks and practice physical distancing voluntarily. Others say they are educating the public and will issue citations only if necessary.
The state on Sunday reported a record-high number of daily new virus cases with confirmed infections topping 30,000. Gov. Newsom plans to hold a press conference Monday morning to provide an update on the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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