EYECARE: Coronavirus BRIEFING: Crisis Response Tactics Text-Based COVID Monitoring System Could Reduce Deaths, Relieve Emergency Departments in Winter Surge By Staff Thursday, November 18, 2021 8:02 AM Holiday travel season is right around the corner, but coronavirus cases have already started to climb. But a new automated texting system could relieve pressure on emergency departments and reduce mortality rates if there were an uptick in COVID-19 this winter.COVID Watch, a text message–based remote monitoring program developed by the University of Pennsylvania Health System, was associated with a 68 percent reduction in the risk of death, compared with those who received usual care. This was the main finding of a paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Head over to Medscape to read the full story.