Written by Mindy Block, Quality Parks President & Founder
As an environmentalist spending most of my free time outdoors, I recently volunteered at Carpenter Farm Park (pictured above) in Huntington, with GoNativeLI. Concurrently, I downloaded CovidAlertNY when it first came out, and set it to explicitly allow data collection. I thought nothing of it, until the night I was notified.
 | CovidAlertNY is a free downloadable app that protects your privacy while notifying you about meeting anyone testing positive. It also provides essential public health data to monitors. I encourage anyone with more information on location tracking accuracy to comment below. Read on, to see why I'm asking. |
Yes, I was tagged as being near a positive!
Upon being notified, I searched my calendar and shopping receipts, thinking back. Admittedly, I didn't wear my mask outside at all times, although I had maintained social distancing and hadn't hung out with most folks. Yet, I also had stomach cramps and felt nauseous one day prior to the notification. Coincidence? I scheduled a Covid Test. I feel fine today; well past the 2 week warning window.
As a side comment, in developing a complete Long Island local, Environmental Directory, it will be easier to send out a heads up to subscribers. Until then, I'm reaching out this way.
As a side comment, in developing a complete Long Island local, Environmental Directory, it will be easier to send out a heads up to subscribers. Until then, I'm reaching out this way.
Environmentalists may not be congregating indoors anymore, but we all desire to be outdoors. Many of us are refraining from attending or offering field trips, but some of us still do cautiously. When weed pulling, planting, or hiking, I wear a mask and socially distance. However I wonder if the app can distinguish 6 feet from 10 feet apart. Maybe the app is better than me for keeping track of social distancing? That's the reason for the question above, about location tracking accuracy.
I do recommend field trip leaders and attendees, newsletter writers and schedulers, to encourage the use of the CovidAlertNY app.
I do recommend field trip leaders and attendees, newsletter writers and schedulers, to encourage the use of the CovidAlertNY app.
| Think of it as citizen science for health and safety. If one of your group tests positive, the app will notify others of the situation. They won't reveal names but give you notification. I contacted the group leader and she notified the group -- to help stop the spread. |  |
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