Colorado’s COVID-19 Exposure Notifications service to end

DENVER, Colo. (KJCT) - Colorado is removing its COVID-19 exposure notification system.

When users enabled the service, their smartphones shared anonymous tokens with other users through the phones’ Bluetooth technology. But Apple and Google will be decommissioning the service on May 11, the same day President Joe Biden will end both the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency.

Mesa County Public Health says this doesn’t mean the virus is gone.

“We have better tools, and we know how to handle it,” said Sarah Gray, communication specialist with Mesa County Public Health. “Those states of emergency are intended to only be temporary, but we have learned so much in the last three years as to how this virus operates and how we can all work together as a community to keep it controlled.”

Users will get a message that alerts them that the system is no longer operational, prompting them to delete their data.

If their phone number is on file, the health department will send text messages to those who test positive for COVID with a link to CDC information.

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