State COVID-19 exposure notification app, WA Notify, to be discontinued on May 11

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Department of Health announced Monday that WA Notify, its COVID-19 exposure notification smartphone app, is scheduled to sunset on May 11.

The app, which launched in Nov. 2020, utilizes Bluetooth technology to anonymously alert users if they may have been exposed to someone who recently tested positive for COVID-19. The app did not collect or store GPS locations or personally identifiable information.

Approximately 235,000 participants have used the app to share a positive test result, generating more than 2.5 million anonymous exposure notifications, according to the DOH.

“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, the Chief Medical Informatics Officer at the state DOH.

The state DOH encourages people who test positive for COVID-19 to continue anonymously notifying others via the app through the end of the federal public health emergency on COVID-19 on May 11.

iPhone and Android users may receive a notification on their phone on or after May 11, notifying them that the app has been disabled. App users do not need to take any further action, although Android users can uninstall the app from their phones if they choose.

After the app is disabled, the DOH encourages people who test positive for COVID-19 to continue to tell their close contacts that may have been exposed to the virus.

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