Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Oct. 1 the launch of an innovative technology-based tool, the COVID Alert NY, to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

 

“Contact tracing has been instrumental in stopping the COVID spread, and we have worked hard over these past months to establish a nation-leading testing and tracing program. Today, we are building on that effort [….] with our official Exposure Notification App created by the New York State Department of Health in partnership with Google and Apple,” the governor wrote. “With COVID Alert NY, you can use your phone to receive alert notifications if you have been exposed without compromising your privacy or personal information.”

 

Fact check: Gov. Andrew Cuomo falsely claims New York nursing homes never took in Covid-positive patients https://t.co/1BxYRJx8JM pic.twitter.com/9F5vZGjRSB

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 1, 2020

 

Cuomo said the app will never track your location and is completely anonymous. Using Bluetooth technology, it can detect proximity to another phone with COVID Alert NY downloaded. “The State Department of Health cannot identify who downloads the app, and does not collect your name, phone number or other personal information,” he added.

 

He said as New York State continues to battle the virus, the app offers another way for people to protect themselves and their family, and their community. “The more New Yorkers who download the app, the more effective it is. Get the app today and help stop the spread while maintaining your privacy,” he wrote.

 

Andrew Cuomo: "It just never happened in New York where we needed to say to a nursing home, 'We need you to take this person even tho they're Covid-positive.' It never happened."

New York Health Dept: 6326 COVID-positive residents were admitted to nursing homes from 3/25 to 5/8.

— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) October 1, 2020

As of Sept. 30, there were 612 total hospitalizations of COVID patients. Of the 109,218 tests reported for the same day, 1,382, or 1.27 percent, were positive. Eleven New Yorkers died due to the virus.

 

26 percent of all positive cases were from 20 hotspot ZIP codes. These were in Orange County (10950), Rockland County (10952, 10977, 10956), Brooklyn (11223, 11230, 11210, 11,219, 11204, 11229, 11235, 11218, 11234), Queens (11367, 11374, 11691), Westchester County (10573), the Bronx (10468), Nassau County (11590), and Staten Island (10305).

 

The governor encouraged those who live in these ZIP codes to take the spread seriously and to get tested.

 

On the same day, the governor was criticized for his handling of the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes, with many pointing to a March 25 advisory from the Department of Health, pre-advising nursing homes to expect to take in COVID patients from hospitals.

 

The governor had said, “It just never happened in New York where we needed to say to a nursing home, ‘We need you to take this person even tho they’re COVID-positive.’ It never happened.”

 

Click here to download the new COVID Alert NY app directly to your iPhone.

 

Click here to download it directly to your Android device.