Notify COVID close contacts electronically via text or email: DHS
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announced on Monday, Oct. 4 that people who have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 can be sent a text or email notifying them of their exposure to COVID-19.
A news release says this is another way to share important information with close contacts in a timely manner. People who test positive for COVID-19 will continue to receive a phone call from a contact tracer.
When contact tracers call people who have tested positive for COVID-19, they collect information about their close contacts. Based on the information provided, the contact tracer can send a text or email to the close contacts. The text will be sent from 844-939-2782 and the message will read, "Health alert: You have been identified as a close contact to COVID-19.
People without access to a cell phone with texting capability or to email may still receive a phone call.
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The DHS COVID-19 Contact Tracing Team and many of Wisconsin’s local and tribal health department staffers will be using text and email to notify close contacts. This is different from the Wisconsin Exposure Notification app, which exchanges anonymous signals with other phones that are near it for at least 15 minutes and allows people who test positive to send an alert to other nearby phones.
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