Washington state's COVID-19 exposure notification app will end May 11
OLYMPIA, Wash. - The smartphone app that notified you if you may have been exposed to someone who recently tested positive for COVID-19 will be going away next month.
The Washington State Department of Health announced Monday its WA Notify app is scheduled to end May 11, the same day the Public Health Emergency is set to end.
"We're tremendously proud of what WA Notify was able to accomplish in a relatively short amount of time, and eager to find ways to utilize this life-saving technology again in the future," said Dr. Bryant Thomas Karras, Chief Medical Informatics Officer at Washington State Department of Health. "Much of WA Notify's success can be attributed to innovative collaboration among public, private, and academic partners including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and the University of Washington. We want to thank WA Notify users across the state for using this free, privacy-preserving tool to protect themselves and their communities."
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As the Public Health Emergency ends, high levels of vaccination, combined with widespread population immunity and available treatments, have significantly reduced the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, or death from COVID-19, health officials said these were factors that contributed to the reduced need for the app.
The app launched in Nov. 2020 and about 235 users confirmed a positive test result in WA Notify, generating more than 2.5 million anonymous exposure notifications, preventing tens of thousands of COVID-19 cases, and saving lives, the department of health said.
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Washington was one of the first states to implement exposure notification technology.
People who test positive for COVID-19 are encouraged to anonymously notify others on the app through May 11. After that, the Department of Health encourages people who test positive to tell their close contacts that may have been exposed.