(WASHINGTON, DC) — Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Health announced a new feature for the DC COVID Alert Notice (DC CAN), allowing users the option to self-report their positive COVID-19 test result. This new feature will greatly increase the speed of the District’s contact tracing efforts by allowing the system to more rapidly identify positive cases and notify close contacts of their potential exposure to the virus. The self-reporting feature is now available for Apple iPhone users and will be available for Android users beginning January 4th, 2022.
DC CAN is an exposure notification system launched in October 2020 that allows Apple and Android users who opt-in to receive an alert when they may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. On iOS, users can opt into exposure notifications through their system settings without having to download an app. On Android, users can opt in by installing the DC CAN app from the Google Play Store. Once you opt-in, the Exposure Notifications System will generate a random ID for your device. To help ensure these random IDs can’t be used to identify you or your location, they change every 10–20 minutes. Your phone and the phones around you will work in the background to exchange these privacy-preserving random IDs via Bluetooth. You do not need to have the app open for this process to take place. Your phone periodically checks all the random IDs associated with positive COVID-19 cases against its own list. If there’s a match, you will receive a COVID-19 exposure notification, with further instructions from DC Health on how to keep you and the people around you safe.
DC CAN protects users’ privacy and data security. The Exposure Notification System does not track the users’ location. Google, Apple, or other users cannot see the user’s identity and only public health authorities can use this system. Users can choose to share their information for public health purposes. Users’ information will not be shared with any other agencies like law enforcement or immigration.
In addition to self-reporting via DC CAN, residents are reminded to report their at-home test results directly to DC Health using the portal at coronavirus.dc.gov/overthecounter.
For more information about DC CAN, visit coronavirus.dc.gov/dccan.