Organization Name : Department of Health
Facility Name : COVID Alert SA App
Applicable For : South African Citizens
Website : https://sacoronavirus.co.za/covidalert/
COVID Alert SA App
COVID Alert SA is South Africa’s free exposure notification app. It lets people know when they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Related / Similar Service :
Sahpra Med Safety Mobile App
Who Can Use It?
Everyone in South Africa who has a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone can access this app. You can make a difference by adding your phone to the fight.
Is my privacy protected?
COVID Alert SA is entirely anonymous. The app protects your privacy and security at all times. It does not need or store any of your personal information.
Download App
By downloading and using the COVID Alert SA app, you become a part of a powerful digital network of app users who choose to work together for the benefit of everyone in the app community while all enjoying complete privacy and anonymity.
App users understand their exposure to COVID-19 and help others to do the same. We can all work together to curb the spread of COVID-19 and, ultimately, to save lives. The app is available for Android and iOS.
How Does It Works?
When an app user anonymously reports to the app that they have COVID-19, the COVID Alert SA app sends notifications to those devices that were in close contact with this person’s device.
These exposure notifications warn those app users that they could potentially have been exposed to the virus. App users are guided as to what to do next to optimise their wellbeing and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus to others.
At no stage does the app reveal the users’ identities. Confidentiality and anonymity are core to the app’s contact-tracing process.
Features
As a COVID Alert SA app user you benefit in multiple ways
** Understand your COVID-19 exposure risk when you receive an exposure notification alert. That’s how you quickly know you’ve had contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
** Are guided as to the next steps you should take. People who have been potentially exposed to COVID-19 can choose to self-quarantine and; therefore, help to curb the further spread of the virus. COVID Alert SA also guides you to monitor your symptoms and access healthcare if you need it.
** Keep your loved ones and those in your wider community safe from COVID-19 – particularly those who are considered to be in the high-risk category for severe illness if they contract COVID-19 (such as those who live with chronic illness, who are immunocompromised, cancer survivors and people older than 60).
** Ultimately contribute to avoiding a resurgence of COVID-19 in South Africa, protecting South Africa’s healthcare services and vulnerable people, and ending the pandemic.
FAQs
1. What is contact tracing?
Public health authorities use contact tracing to help control the spread of epidemics and pandemics. The process involves healthcare workers identifying and interviewing people who have contracted a disease to identify their ‘close contacts’: those they have been in close proximity to in the recent past and therefore possibly infected
2. Why do we need to identify those who have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19?
** Close contacts can be guided to self-quarantine for 10 days to prevent further spread, monitor themselves for symptoms and seek medical care when needed.
** Many people who contract COVID-19 have no symptoms (are asymptomatic) or experience very mild illness. They could unknowingly spread it to others.
** COVID-19 is especially dangerous for those considered at high risk of severe illness like people who have chronic illnesses or the elderly