WA DOH Will Now Text After Positive COVID-19 Tests

WASHINGTON — Starting Monday, the Washington State Department of Health has begun sending text messages to anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus.

According to the DOH, the move is part of their attempts to improve WA Notify, the state's COVID-19 exposure notification app.

Under the new program, the DOH will send the text to a patient within 24 hours of receiving a positive test result. The text will include a verification code, which the user will be prompted to enter into WA Notify. The app will then alert everyone that the patient has recently been in close contact with, that they may have been exposed to the virus.

The DOH has provided an example of how the texts will look:

Anyone who receives the text but isn't signed up for WA Notify can simply ignore it, say DOH leaders. But they do encourage residents to sign up for WA Notify if they can — 1.66 million Washingtonians have signed up for the app since its launch in late November, and the more people use the COVID-19 tracking tech, the more useful it becomes.

“Adoption of exposure notification technology has been strong in Washington state, so I’m pleased we’re able to make this improvement to get verification codes to WA Notify users faster,” said Lacy Fehrenbach, the deputy secretary for COVID-19 response. “The earlier someone is notified of a possible exposure, the more quickly they can take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and potentially save lives.”

WA Notify is voluntary and state leaders stress that it is anonymous, and does not track a user's personal information or where they have been going. Users can also opt out of the program at any time.

Learn more about the program, or find more detailed installation instructions from the Washington State Department of Health.