(WAUKESHA, WI) – Waukesha County Public Health is using a new ten-digit phone number to send text alerts and connect callers with COVID-19 information. Anyone who has recently taken a COVID-19 test and receives a text message from 262-600-2255 (262-600-CALL) should understand that the message is from Waukesha County Public Health, and it contains important information about their test results and what they should do next. Residents can also call the phone number to be connected with the County’s COVID-19 Call Center. Text messages from Waukesha County Public Health had previously displayed ‘48355.’
Waukesha County launched the “Patient Education Genius” (PEG) text messaging system in February to alert individuals ages 23-59 of positive COVID-19 test results. Due to the high level of success in quickly notifying a large number of individuals of their positive test result, the County has increased the age range to be notified by the PEG text messaging system to 18-69. Waukesha County Public Health’s use of text alerts allows for timely contact tracing and efficient disease investigation efforts and reduces the number of Public Health staff needed to conduct these processes. Utilizing automated messaging also has the potential to reach people who are more likely to respond to a text message than to answer a phone call. Individuals who do not respond to the text message may receive a follow-up phone call or a letter from Public Health. More information about PEG is available at www.patienteducationgenius.com/.
