COVID-19 Dashboard for Greater Pasadena Area (Photo – Graphic Department)
Los Angeles County officials announced a partnership with SafePass, a mobile app that provides COVID contact tracing capabilities for individuals, throughout Los Angeles County.
By News Desk
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek, and Citizen CEO Andrew Frame appeared at a press conference at L.A. City Hall on Wednesday, September 9.
SafePass
SafePass will allow users to self-report their symptoms for COVID-19 and receive notifications and alerts directly from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. All contact tracing data is anonymous, private, encrypted, and deleted after 30 days by Citizen. Officials encouraged residents to download the app to expand local efforts to track COVID-19 for L.A. County’s ten million residents.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said:
The success of the SafePass app relies on a continued sense of community impact among our residents by asking individuals to do their part to protect themselves and their neighbors.
“COVID-19 knows no City boundaries, so we are thankful to have such strong partnerships with our neighboring Cities and the County to better serve our community,” said City of Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek. “This app is another tool that our residents can use to empower themselves to best take care of their health, and the health of those around them.”
The Citizen SafePass mobile app complements the existing local COVID-19 response efforts in Los Angeles County by introducing an innovative tool that ramps up the critical contact tracing process. Following three months of testing with more than 700,000 users, SafePass was recently made available to users across the United States.
How it works
Using Bluetooth technology and anonymized data, SafePass tracks any close contacts with other users, and alerts them to potential exposures. Any user who had contact with another user who later tested positive for COVID-19 will receive a notification to get tested. The app also offers immediate access to eligible users for a free at-home testing kit and up to date information about all active testing sites in Los Angeles County (terms and conditions apply). All location data is anonymized and deleted after 30 days.
Testing sites
The County of Los Angeles and City of Los Angeles have tested more than two million people since the start of the pandemic at testing sites located across the region. Over 2,600 County and City workers have been deployed by the L.A. County Public Health Department to conduct critical contact tracing services. Click for available testing sites in Los Angeles City, and L.A.County.
Edited by Ann Honnewell
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