The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) reported more than 1 million Coloradans have activated the smartphone-based Exposure Notifications System since its launch in late October.
That's a 17 percent adoption rate in Colorado, said Sarah Tuneberg, CDPHE's special COVID-19 advisor. The department has previously stated a 15 percent adoption rate could lead to potential improvements in death and infection rates.
Tuneberg said the notification system is one part of the larger picture of slowing down the virus in Colorado.
"None of these strategies alone can do it, we all have to do all of them to the best of our ability," she said. "So wear a mask, stay apart, be with your household only, enable exposure notifications, and just stay home."
Tuneberg also said the system is rolling out new process improvements to rapidly reach people with confirmed positive COVID-19 test results.
Earlier in the rollout, public health agencies would provide a code for people who tested positive for COVID-19. People could then use the anonymous, one-time code to alert everyone they came in contact with who also enabled the app of possible exposure. The system was sending between 20 and 40 codes a day.