Does contacting a sick person with the intention of visiting them carry the same reward and merit as actually visiting them, and what is the extent of this reward, and does it contribute to the reduction of sins?

The reward for visiting the sick is known only to Allah. There are narrations regarding its virtue, among them that whoever visits a sick person, a caller proclaims: "You are good, and your walking is good, and you have taken a place in Paradise." Contacting a sick person by phone carries a reward, but it does not equal the reward of visiting them in person if that is possible, and the reward is commensurate with the effort. This reward may be a cause for expiation of minor sins, but major sins are not effaced except through sincere repentance.