CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — An app for University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign faculty members, staff and students who intend to enter university facilities this fall is available for download by iPhone and Android users.
Developed on campus, the innovative Safer Illinois app provides users their personalized coronavirus-testing results and reminders of their scheduled testing, along with a display of their current testing status that will serve as one of the mechanisms to gain entry to university facilities during the pandemic, all without showing any personalized health information to personnel assigned to university building entrances.
“We believe Safer Illinois offers the most convenient, most secure and most direct tool for managing your COVID-19 status during the fall 2020 semester,” said Chancellor Robert Jones. “Use of the app will be strongly recommended for all faculty members, staff and students during this semester. I encourage you to download it and familiarize yourself with its features as soon as you return to campus, and no later than Aug. 23.”
While Safer Illinois does not track users’ locations, the app can anonymously notify them of possible COVID-19 exposures. This exposure notification is designed to complement public health efforts to reduce infections through in-person contact tracing, which are carried out by an individual’s county health department.
Other features of the app help users to manage their health and wellness, including a self-assessment symptoms list, personalized tips and next steps for improving health and wellness, updates from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and contact information for virtual-care teams from local health care providers.
Students who do not have a smartphone and want to use the Safer Illinois app should contact the Student Assistance Center. Faculty and staff members who do not have a smartphone and want to use the Safer Illinois app should contact Technology Services at consult@illinois.edu. Anyone who has support issues or needs technical support for the app should contact Technology Services.
Editor’s note: For additional information, contact Robin Kaler, associate chancellor for public affairs, 217-333-5010, rkaler@illinois.edu.
