So long, phone COVID-19 exposure notifications

• One of the programs that lost funding was WA Notify, the system that alerts people they may have been exposed to COVID-19 by sending a message to their phones.
• After launching in November 2020, the technology was used by nearly 4 million devices in Washington, and sent more than 2.5 million exposure notifications, according to the health department.

The bottom line: "Your phone will no longer notify you if you were near someone who tested positive for COVID-19," Fehrenbach said.

What's next: Public health officials are urging anyone who feels sick to promptly test for COVID-19, and to stay up to date on vaccinations and boosters.

• "Though the public health emergency is over, the pandemic is not over," Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, the health department's chief science officer, said at last week's news conference.