NEW: RI Rolls Out "Crush COVID" App, Raimondo Ask Employers, Religious Leaders to Encourage Sign-Ups
GoLocalProv News Team
NEW: RI Rolls Out "Crush COVID" App, Raimondo Ask Employers, Religious Leaders to Encourage Sign-Ups
The state announced Tuesday the highest number of new COVID-19 fatalities in a one day period to date.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"We’re rolling out a new phone app that will help us," said Raimondo at the daily briefing at the Vets Auditorium. "The app is called CrushCOVIDRI. I love the title, we’re crushing COVID."
"Symptom monitoring, information, contact tracings — it’s available for free download at the Apple app store or Google Play in English and Spanish," said Raimondo. "We are the first state — or one of the first few — to roll out a one-stop app of this kind."
"This is a homegrown app...in collaboration with Infosys," said Raimondo, of the company that came to Rhode Island in 2017 -- which she said is "working for free around the clock" in a "public-private" partnership.
Location Diary -- and Privacy -- Touted
"The key thing is the location diary," said Raimondo, who said that it will make her ask of Rhode Islanders to track their daily contacts "easier."
"On the CrushCOVID app, there is a location diary feature, [that] asks you if you want to enable it — it’s your choice, yes or no," she said. "If you say yes…it’s kind of like a Google map. If you’re in a location for ten minutes or more, it will show up."
"The data around where you’ve been is stored on your phone only — it’s really important. It’s only on your phone, and only if you enable it. It’s automatically deleted after 20 days," she added.
"If you get sick [and test positive], you will be asked if you want to share your diary," said Raimondo. "You can say no, or you can read what’s in your phone to the Department of Health. At that point, your data will be shared with RIDOH — not your name. There will be an ID number [and the data will not be shared] to a company or a federal agency. It’s for the exclusive purpose of contact tracing."
Raimondo said that protecting data in an "ironclad way" was a top priority.
"I said to the team I need you to make something that protects people's privacy and data in an ironclad way," said Raimondo. "This is completely your choice. No one is going to make you download the app, turn on the diary feature, or share data. I’m however asking you to do this."
"It only works if everyone’s using it, so we can see where everyone is — we can’t stop it if we can't contain it," said Raimondo. "If everyone’s on it, we can quickly identify hotspots."
"I’m asking every employer to encourage employees to downtown this app — I’m asking every Rhode Islander to take 5 minutes and download the app," said Raimondo. "Every priest, rabbi, and imam."