Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health emergency physicians and researchers, Dr. Megan Ranney and Dr. Elizabeth Goldberg, collaborated with Xionix Interactive Development, Inc. to create this app because they saw a need to provide the public with ways to estimate their COVID-19 risk. By using the best science available and offering simple steps everyone can take to keep themselves and others safer, the MyCOVIDRisk app is an easy way to find personalized COVID-19 information to assist you in your decision making.

This app uses limited information provided by you (e.g. duration of stay, activity type and location, percentage of mask use, etc.) as well as COVID-19 prevalence data from the location where your activity will take place, in order to calculate an estimated risk score ranging from Very Low to Very High. The app then suggests protective measures you can take to lower and recalculate your score. It also provides additional COVID-19 resources and information. 

This app provides an estimate of risk of infection – not risk of hospitalization or death. It does not collect personal identifying information. As this app is a first version and does not show accumulated risk. Rather, it tells you the risk of participating in one event. We know that risk adds up and future versions of this app may be able to incorporate all of the activities a user might take part in across the entire week. The science on COVID-19 is rapidly evolving but there are still many unknowns. This app provides a risk estimate based off the best science available today but it is vital to use these risk scores responsibly and recognize that there is still much scientists do not know about the novel coronavirus and are working to understand. 

This app is free and open to the general public ages 13 years and older. 

Anyone who has symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should not use this app and should instead self-quarantine or seek medical attention if needed. For more resources, please go to: CDC Coronavirus Self-Checker

The MyCOVIDRisk app expands on Univ. of Colorado Boulder Prof. Jose L. Jimenez’s public COVID-19 Aerosol Transmission Estimator by using personalized user inputs as well as conditional probabilities to estimate your risk score and potentially lower it.  It also uses data from a wide variety of research papers from across the world on droplet transmission and protective factors.

Everyone has a different risk tolerance, so we developed risk score ranges based on replies received to our Twitter question : What % risk of getting infected by #COVID19 would you consider to be the same as a “low” risk activity? We received over 2,000 votes of our poll and 117 comments and most stated 5% was a very high risk. We know that your risk of becoming infected is around 5% when caring for a family member who is sick with COVID. Most would consider this high risk, but would still engage in this activity if they had no other alternative.

• Very Low Risk = <0.00001%
• Low Risk = 0.01 - 0.00001%
• Medium Risk = 0.01 - 0.1%
• High Risk = 0.1 - 5%
• Very High Risk = 5%

Your risk score shows you the approximate chance of your becoming infected with COVID-19 when participating in your selected activity with the parameters you input. Based on your initial risk score, you can take steps to lower this risk for yourself and others. It is important to keep in mind that this app shows you your risk score dependent on a singular event, but we know that risk adds up so keep this in mind when viewing your risk score estimate. It is also important to remember that this is an estimation of risk. Consider entering the event you attend that is the highest risk for a more appropriate score of your actual weekly risk.

A Very Low risk score does not mean you should stop wearing a mask or stop social distancing. Even with a very low risk score, you could still become infected with COVID-19 and could possibly spread it to others around you. Regardless of risk score, it is important for everyone to continue following COVID-19 safety guidelines such as universal mask wearing, social distancing, decreasing duration of stay, increasing ventilation, and following proper hand hygiene practices.

We are hoping to expand the current MyCOVIDRisk app with future versions that can accommodate accumulated risk as well as other features depending on funding resources available.

Both versions of the MyCOVIDRisk app were funded through the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health. If you are interested in donating to help fund future versions, please reach out to: MyCOVIDRiskApp@brown.edu 

Or donate HERE by typing in "Center for Digital Health" in the search field.

As stated in the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, no personally identifying information will be collected. The information users input into the app about their activity choices and planned behaviors will be analyzed in aggregate to learn more about behavior patterns of use.

First, if you have used previous versions of the MyCOVIDRisk App, we recommend that you clear your browser cache of the "mycovidrisk.app" link so that you can use the most up to date version.

If you continue to have technical difficulties, you can email MyCOVIDRiskApp@brown.edu or DM us on Twitter @BrownDigiHealth.

The first version of this app only supports English but plans to expand to other languages will be incorporated into future versions.

If you have a suggestion on how to improve the app, would like to collaborate on future projects, or would like to donate towards future versions of this app, please email us at: MyCOVIDRiskApp@brown.edu