NVSC Rushes to Business Rescue – Has Established Additional Covid-19 Call Center

Rolanda Lingienė, department director at NVSC Vilnius, says additional capacity is needed for the country in the current situation. With the number of Covid-19 cases per day exceeding a thousand, the existing staff of the center has not been able to identify all those who have been in contact with the sick for some time.

“A person infected with Covid-19 has an average of 10 to 20 high-risk contacts. This means that if a thousand new cases of the disease are registered every day, our employees must identify and report around 10-20 thousand cases. exposed persons. If these people are not tracked and reported in a timely manner and do not isolate themselves, they can continue to spread the infection to the public in the event of infection and further exacerbate the epidemiological situation. Unfortunately, the cases of 70 epidemiologists and 100 volunteers from the Lithuanian Armed Forces currently working at the center are no longer sufficient for epidemiological diagnosis. Additional capabilities are critical, ”says R. Lingienė.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control indicates that, on average, a person can survey and treat about 4 cases per day. This means that at least 250 employees would be needed to investigate 1,000 cases.

Lithuanian companies and their unifying associations, which have come together for the social initiative “Let’s overcome together”, will seek to ensure part of this need. The goal of the initiative is to create at least 50 additional jobs for self-employed epidemiological research.

In the first phase, 10 selected employees have already started working in the call center, on November 16. 10 more will join, and the team is expected to expand in the near future as well. Employees are carefully selected and fully trained to work with NVSC, in addition to having all the necessary work and safety equipment, their work is coordinated by representatives of NVSC. Additional call center teams will work on a continuous schedule, ensuring uninterrupted support seven days a week. There is also a search for more companies that can support the initiative, which would provide an opportunity to further expand the scope of work and hire more employees.

Laimonas Baliukonis, strategy manager for the marketing agency MP agency, which has brought together the sponsors of the initiative, says that the contribution of the business community can be very significant in the context of the current situation.

“Companies, with their available resources and skills, can contribute to the fight against the spread of the coronavirus and thus help protect the population and the economy of the country. That is why we have initiated cooperation with NVSC and mobilized socially responsible companies , which will help provide NVSC with the capabilities it currently needs with its own funds and other resources, ”says L. Baliukonis.

An additional Covid-19 contact tracking center has been located in the conference center of the Hotel Panorama in the capital, and as the number of employees increases, there will also be jobs available in the conference room of the Hotel Carolina. Currently, project sponsors have the opportunity to install up to 100 safe workplaces. Partners also provided work computers, phones, headsets, Internet access, printed materials and stationery, and meals.

The new call center follows the NVSC’s instructions responsibly to ensure safe working conditions. Covid-19 tests will be performed on each employee. A safe distance is maintained between employees, they are equipped with personal protective equipment, the temperature is measured for everyone before starting work and after each work day – the entire conference room and work equipment are fully disinfected.

Kalnapilis-Tauras Group became the first partner of the initiative. According to the company’s CEO, Marijus Kirstukas, the company’s ability to provide operational assistance is critical today.

“We believe that the most important thing at this time is to focus and decide how we can help each one. The pandemic has seriously affected all residents and businesses, including our partners. We are happy to contribute to the initiative, which we hope will allow us to manage the situation faster and help all Lithuanians to recover faster ”, says Marijus Kirstukas, CEO of Kalnapilis-Tauras Group, one of the partners of the initiative.

At the moment, the project promoters plan to install a temporary call center for at least a month, but it is expected that with more companies joining the project, it will be possible to expand the scope of support and execute the initiative as much as necessary.

Currently, 13 partners have already joined the “Let’s Overcome Together” initiative, which not only provides financial support, but also provides the center with the necessary resources. The main financial backers, Kalnapilio-Tauro Group, the pharmaceutical research company Berlin Chemie Menarini Baltic and the marketing agency MP agency, are allocating funds for the hiring of a temporary call center. The premises for the call center were provided by members of the Lithuanian Hotel and Restaurant Association: Panorama Hotel and Karolina Hotel. Telecommunications company Tele 2 provides employees with telephones and takes care of the Internet connection. Insoft, Atėja, NRD Companies and also provide the necessary computer equipment for the job, and the Internet solutions company IT Solutions takes care of the project website and its support. Roche Lietuva is responsible for the disinfection of the workplaces.

The initiative’s organizers invite more socially responsible business companies to join in and help expand the reach of employees. Individuals who can and are willing to work the entire month at the Covid-19 temporary contact center are also welcome. More detailed information is available on the website of the social initiative www.iveiksimekartu.lt.

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