Health Unit Texts Are Legitimate, Officials Say

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Have you received a text message claiming to be from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit? It is not a scam.

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The local health unit announced Wednesday that it has deployed a virtual assistant to help with COVID-19 case management, as have public health units across the province.

People who test positive for COVID will receive a text message, if they have a mobile phone, with a secure link. If you consent to the sharing of basic information virtually, you can answer a few questions to help expedite your eventual telephone interview with a member of the health unit staff. The link will also contain instructions on self-isolation.

“The system is being used to support efficiency in conducting our investigation calls,” said Health Unit Executive Director Nicole Dupuis. It will also “expand our outreach capacity to collect key information to prioritize and plan for further outreach when we have identified cases.”

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The health unit had been receiving questions from members of the public about whether or not the text messages were legitimate, Dupuis said.

“It is helpful for us to start our investigation and allows us to get information faster for follow-up.”

Whenever a person tests positive for COVID-19, an employee of the health unit calls them and tells them to self-isolate. The employee also conducts an interview, which can last from 30 minutes to an hour, to determine where he may have contracted COVID and to whom he may have exposed before going into self-isolation, among other things.

Dupuis also said the health unit has received questions about when people 50 and older would be eligible for a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. That group can immediately begin booking appointments for vaccination starting next Monday (December 13) by visiting wevax.ca or by calling 226-773-2200.

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The health unit reported 80 additional cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, including 23 people who were infected by close contacts and 24 who contracted the virus through community spread. The sources of transmission of 33 cases remain under active investigation.

To date, 22,380 area residents have tested positive. Of these, 530 people are still infectious, 477 people have died and 21,373 cases are considered resolved.

Hospitals in the area have 30 COVID patients. Fourteen of them are in intensive care.

The outbreaks remain active in 18 workplaces, four community settings, nine schools, and two long-term care homes.

So far, 81.9 percent of local residents age five and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 77.3 percent are fully vaccinated. Booster injections of the third dose have been administered to 39,386 eligible residents.

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