Editor's note: The above video previously aired on KING 5 when WA Notify was first announced by the Department of Health.
SEATTLE, Wash. -- State health officials said 1.6 million people have activated or downloaded the WA Notify smartphone app created to let people know if they may have been exposed to coronavirus.
That's more than 26% of the state's adult population, according to Lacy Fehrenbach, deputy secretary of health for the state Department of Health.
"This is great news because the more people who use this the better it works to help us stop the chains of transmission," said Fehrenbach.
The Department of Health said during a briefing this week that the app is active and is sending notifications to people who may have been exposed.
The Seattle Times reports, however, the state does not have reliable data on how many times the app has been used to alert people or on how many people have been alerted.
Part of that is because privacy protections built into the app limit how much information public health officials get.
You can learn more about Washington Exposure Notifications from the Department of Health by clicking here.
Watch the latest Department of Health COVID-19 briefing here: