Delaware data breach impacts 10,000 coronavirus tests results

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DOVER, Del. - Health officials in Delaware are in the process of contacting around 10,000 people after emails containing coronavirus test results and other personal information were erroneously sent to someone outside the department.

The Delaware Division of Public Health on Sunday said two unencrypted emails were mistakenly sent on August 13th and 20th. One of the emails contained test results from July 16 to August 10. The second email contained COVID-19 lab results for people tested on August 15.

Health officials said the emails were meant for internal distribution to call center staff who assist people in obtaining their test results. The emails also contained patient name, test location, test date and phone number.

FULL COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS

According to the department, the person who received the email alerted health officials and deleted the messages and the data. Officials say there is currently no reason to believe the information was misused.

Delaware Division of Public Health said it reported the 'data breach' to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Delaware Department of Justice, as required by state law.

Both full-time and temporary staff were also retrained in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) policies.