An error in an email address caused a lady in Saint-Lazare who had not taken a screening test to receive two emails informing her that she was positive for Covid-19.
The situation is as follows, a person with the same name as the lady contacted has been diagnosed positive for Covid-19. As part of the registration process by the real infected person, public health asked the latter for an email address in order to contact her. The email address that was given by the contaminated lady or taken down by the employer turned out to be that of the lady who had not taken the test. Public health does not know where the error in the email address came from.
Chantal Vallée, spokesperson for the Integrated Health and Social Services Center of Montérégie-Centre, specifies that public health interventions were made by telephone to the person with the disease.
“The emails sent to the lady are in addition to this telephone intervention, says Mrs. Vallée. An email reminding them of self-isolation and explaining the isolation instructions, and an email providing more information on their state of health and the people with whom they have been in contact. In the current situation, it is the person who owns the address who received the additional emails. ”
Mrs. Vallée indicates that no confidential information was provided in the email. That it is only a question of an isolation reminder and the instructions to follow.
How the situation unfolded
On October 10th , the lady received an email from the Regional Director of Public Health to inform her of her positive diagnosis for Covid-19. Two days later, she received another email to tell her of the recommendations for isolation, the date she was lifted from her isolation, a copy of a letter to be communicated to her relatives and the symptom monitoring grid.
Error of person
According to the lady who received the emails, since she had not taken a screening test, it was obvious that there was a question of an error of person. “I called the general number as soon as I got the email, she says. I was transferred to the appointment center, but no one could really help me. However, a lady took my information and my email address to check it.”
The Saint-Lazare resident continued to inquire but was not getting any answers. “The first person I spoke with told me she would give the info to her supervisor, says the lady, who does not rule out the identity theft hypothesis. But, rather than receiving a call to explain what had happened, I received a second email to explain the instructions. So I called back the general number and this time, the lady really helped me, because she told me that it was not normal and that it was necessary to either find the right person or to investigate who could have sent these emails.”
Public health
The lady confirms that she spoke to Chantal Vallée. «I gave some information to prove that I was not the infected person.»
It is not the first time
The lady explains that another lady has the same identity as her. In fact, there was a mistake like this with a telephone company. However, until I gave my information, I was considered contaminated.
