SAN DIEGO — Stunned to see it pop up on both his work and personal cell phones, local educator Kafele Khalfani received a California Health Department notification warning him of possible exposure to someone who tested positive for Coronavirus.
"It was a little shocking to get this notification and was a little scary because then you start going through your head, where have I been, who have I been around,” Khalfani said.
His alert came just before Christmas Eve putting a pause on any plans and leaving him to do a Zoom with his Mother.
“It was a lonely Christmas because I was stuck at home throughout that entire time, but I was going to be at home anyway though, just now I have to Instacart to get my groceries delivered for the next week,” he said.
Last month, the state rolled out the California Notify app detailing if you spend 15 minutes next to someone within six or so feet, the app will collect a code from other people's phones as long as they have the app turned on as well.
"The more people that use this app, the safer we're all going to be, it helps us slow the spread of COVID by letting you know if you have been exposed nearby someone who has tested positive and therefore should potentially quarantine and get tested yourself,” said Dr. Christopher Longhurst, chief information officer for UC San Diego Health.
But there is concern that the app may track your location.
"It's 100% private, 100% secure, 100% voluntary, you opt in or choose not to,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom.
It exchanges anonymous codes with other phones via Bluetooth. To get the app, Android users have to download "California Covid Notify app" from the app store while iPhone users can just turn it on after scrolling down in their settings to "Exposure Notifications".
After Khalfani got the text alert, it said to tap to learn more
"The more information takes you to the Website, and it sort of shows this is what this means and goes through FAQ’s,” he said.
It told him to quarantine and gave isolation recommendations and a date to get tested by 6 days later.
“What happens if it came back positive, that is sort of the more scary part is you know waiting it out because I did not have any symptoms."
For days, Khalfani says he tried to trace his steps prior to the Covid alert. His COVID-19 test came back negative.
“There's the part of me that really wants to Inspector Gadget it and figure out where I was and who I was near,” Khalfani said.
He recommends more people get the app.
“If I can you tag my locations on Instagram and on Facebook and use GPS, then the least I can do in a public health crisis is add one thing to my phone to be able to help manage this,” Khalfani said.
