Nearing One Million Downloads, NC's COVID-19 App Has Given Few Alerts

North Carolina is closing in on one million downloads of an app released last year to slow the spread of COVID-19. If you have the app and wonder why you've never gotten a notification, you're not alone. 

SlowCOVIDNC technology is supposed to alert users if they come in close contact with someone who has recently tested positive for the virus. 

But it's a two-way street — if people don't report positive tests, it won't work that well. Just over 1,000 have been reported to the app since last September, with a total of just over 3,000 total alerts during that time.

Charles Carter is the Assistant Secretary of Technology Services with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. He says interest in the app is growing again at a rate of more than 20,000 downloads a month as COVID cases across the state surge. But getting more people vaccinated is the state's main priority.

“If all of us were to get vaccinated this virus would die, because it would have nowhere to breed, nowhere to live," he says. "And we just released some statistics to back that up. You are more than six times more likely to contract the virus if you've not been vaccinated. You're 15 times more likely to die from COVID if you're unvaccinated.” 

Carter says the app can still play a helpful role in the pandemic fight and encourages people to use it and report any positive tests.