Courtesy Image An illustration of the coronavirus provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ALPENA — Beginning Wednesday, people who test positive for COVID-19 may be notified by text or email, District Health Department No. 4 announced Monday.

New software adopted by the district will ease the burden of health workers immersed in vaccination efforts, according to Devin Spivey, community health director and epidemiologist for the department.

People who test positive and don’t fall into a high-risk category may receive an electronic notification including a link to a confidential online survey intended to help health officials gather and share important information quickly, Spivey said.

The survey will ask for demographic information, symptoms, occupation, attendance at public events or gatherings, and people with whom the person testing positive may have been in close contact. The survey does not gather social security numbers, personal passwords, or banking details.

People under age 18 and older than 65 will continue to receive a phone call from the health department.

Meanwhile, public health officials on Monday reported six newly infected or probably infected Northeast Michiganders, including two Alpena County residents, two Montmorency County residents, and two Alcona County residents.

As of Feb. 18, local public health agencies have reported confirmed and suspected infections as one number.

Based on that data, 2,997 Northeast Michiganders have been confirmed or suspected infected since the pandemic hit Michigan in mid-March. Of those, 105 have died.

State data showed that, as of Sunday, 28,119 doses of coronavirus vaccine had been administered in Northeast Michigan.

As of Monday, nobody was hospitalized at MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena with coronavirus infection, according to state data. The hospital was 37% full.

As of Monday, 34 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection across the state-designated, 18-county health care region that includes Alpena, Presque Isle, and Montmorency counties, according to state data.

The last death was reported March 10.

Local public health officials have stopped tracking recoveries.