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The National Public Health Center (NVSC) is already calling for voluntary help as the coronavirus hotline in 1808 nears the spring call peak.
The peak has not yet been reached
The European Commission has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic will worsen. The number of infected people in the Old Continent reached 1.1 million last week. The number of patients is also increasing every day in Lithuania. The Coronavir hotline also felt this.
“Activity is increasing in proportion to the number of positive cases diagnosed. Last week, the number of calls reached 10-12 thousand per day,” said Nerijus Mikelionis, director of the Kaunas Ambulance Station (GMPS), where the Coronavirus Hotline 1808 has been operating since the spring.
N. Mikelionis points out that the number of calls to the 1808 line is proportional to the increasing number of infected people. (Photo by Vilmantas Raupelis)
So far, the peak of spring, when more than 16 thousand. Calls per day have not been met, but growing morbidity trends are already driving preparations for an even larger influx of calls.
“We are faced with a problem that with the available capacity we cannot handle all calls at once. People have to wait. We are sorry. We are looking for solutions. Electronic registration should start in the near future. We also promise to increase capacity, maybe even return to the voluntary support structure “, – mentioned N. Mikelionis.
We are faced with the problem that with the available capacity we cannot handle all calls at once.
Conversations get shorter
Line 1808 currently has 35 state-funded jobs. It employs 70 people. “We are also improving our processes: we are shortening the interviews, preparing for electronic registration and expecting a greater number of employees,” advised the doctor so as not to be surprised by the conciseness of the interview.
According to N. Mikelionis, electronic registration at mobile points would be carried out in a similar way to a doctor. The person would identify himself with the electronic means available and thus register.
“There is another part of the problem: the number of places in the mobile points. Even if we can accept all calls to 1808, there simply will be nowhere to register. This is something to think about and plan the development of mobile points. N. Mikelionis, this is already the task of the emergency manager. Currently, 3 thousand people can be collected at mobile points in Lithuania per day. Samples.
Without volunteers, it won’t work
The director of Kaunas GMPS notes that it is natural that the hotline in the Coronavirus Line is beginning to lack capacity. “We are preparing intensely, because this is not the end, it has not even reached the peak yet,” predicts the doctor an increasingly complicated situation.
Photo by Vilmantas Raupelis
First, the Coronavirus Hotline seeks the support of the municipality for the staff of the Public Health Office, as well as the Riflemen’s Union, whose members have already gained experience in assisting the hotline in the spring. As a last resort, public assistance will be sought.
It is now accepted that the second wave of coronavirus hits harder than it did in the spring. Then, the public with great enthusiasm began to volunteer to help not only the Coronavirus Hotline, but also to feed the doctors working on the front lines of the pandemic, coming together to help the old ones.
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