Statement from the Department of Health
Media StatementEspañol
For immediate release: July 12, 2020 (20-126)
Contact: Amy Reynolds, DOH communications director, 360-688-3189
Statement from the Department of Health
On Friday, July 10, the Washington State Department of Health became aware that we may have sent COVID-19-related text messages and emails in error.
While training staff on a new data-sharing platform for case investigations and contact tracing, we neglected to disable the ability for texts and emails to leave the test environment. The result is that randomly created phone numbers and emails, with no connection to public health data, may have received messages between late May and early July. The number of texts and emails sent in error is less than 50.
Once we discovered this error, we identified which of the random emails and phone numbers could have actually received a message. This afternoon, we sent a follow-up message about the errors, asking people to disregard any text or email they received. We also provided a webpage with more information and an email address for any follow-up questions they might have.
We deeply regret any inconvenience or worry we may have caused. This error does not accurately reflect the high standards we have for our training programs or for our vitally important case investigation and contact tracing work.
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