Oneida County health department using app to improve contact tracing

UTICA, N.Y. — The Oneida County Health Department has started using a mobile texting app that will allow it to expand the reach of its COVID-19 contact-tracing efforts and “increase the efficiency of the process.”

“Community spread continues to be a major concern in Oneida County, and this new tool will boost our ability to contact trace positive COVID-19 cases,” Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. said in a release. “Our health department has been working around the clock to stem the tide of these rising cases, and this will allow our contact tracers to quickly reach out to a large amount of people using less staff, which will greatly increase the efficiency of the process.”

The health department will be using RumbleUp, a peer-to-peer texting platform that can contact groups of people via SMS [short message service] or MMS [multimedia messaging service].

The interface will allow the health department to notify thousands of people simultaneously of their positive test results and provide them with important follow-up instructions for isolation.

“We know that people respond to text messages faster than phone calls or emails, and our first priority is to reach people as fast as possible and share positive test results. This technology allows us to do that,” Picente noted.

About RumbleUp

During the program’s initial stages, tracers will send a text providing a link to additional information (a screen shot example accompanies the article). No personal information will be shared in this text nor will the text ask the receiver to text back personal or confidential information. The program also has additional features available and further expansion on the information shared via text “may be utilized in the future.”

The information that the health department will provide to positive COVID-19 patients through RumbleUp will include instructions for isolation, notifying close contacts, limiting contact with housemates, practicing proper hygiene, and what to do if symptoms worsen.

“Texting is a popular, quick, easy way to share information,” Phyllis Ellis, Oneida County Director of Health, said. “This app will allow the health department to give accurate, necessary information to more people in less time. The better we are able to do this, the faster isolation and quarantining can happen.”

Visual provided by Oneida County