Rutgers creates applications for coronavirus symptom screening, contact tracing

Executive Vice President for Strategic Planning and Operations and Chief Operating Officer Antonio M. Calcado sent a University-wide email on Friday announcing two new mandatory applications related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. 

“Keeping each other safe during the pandemic is a shared and serious personal responsibility,” he said, according to the email. “To help you meet that responsibility, the Rutgers Office of Information Technology, in collaboration with the University’s medical experts, has developed two apps that are ready for use by Rutgers faculty, staff and students and will be mandatory beginning Monday, Sept. 28.”

The first app is called My Campus Pass and will be used by employees and students to self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms before traveling to campus or entering a Rutgers building, according to the email. The app can be accessed through the My Rutgers portal and users will be asked to specify which buildings they plan to enter that day. 

The app asks questions about an individual’s current health to determine if it is safe for them to enter on campus, but Calcado said it can also be used by people off-campus to determine if they are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. After completing the survey, users will immediately be notified whether it is safe for them to enter on campus. 

The second app, Calcado said, is the Rutgers Visitors Log, which is a site that will be used for contact tracing, according to the email. Any visitor or guest that has business at the University that cannot be completed remotely must register online through this log. 

Calcado said any NetID user can register a guest and that the online log will replace any paper logs that are currently in use, according to the email. Data entered into the system will be stored for 30 days. 

"These apps are intended to support the health and safety of all members of the Rutgers community,” Calcado said, according to the email. “These apps — in combination with the Three Ws (Watch Your Distance, Wash Your Hands, Wear Your Face Covering) — are important steps in keeping us all well.”