HSE HOTLINE GETS 5,000 CALLS A DAY
OVER 5,000 calls were made to the HSE’s helpline every day this week, with the number surging to 7,000 yesterday, it has emerged, as the number of confirmed Covid19 cases here rose by another 20 yesterday to 90.
Waiting times ranged from 30 minutes to over two hours as the information line was inundated with calls and staff tried to cope with the surge.
The news comes as the Vintners Federation revealed many pubs will close for the coming weeks. However, panic buyers were told there is no need to stockpile as warehouses are full of goods for supermarkets.
And as alarm grew across the world, Donald Trump declared a national emergency in the US and outlined a $50billion (€45billion) plan to tackle the virus. A spokesman for the
HSE told the Daily Mail that the HSELive information line had been receiving over 5,000 calls each day this week, before surging to a high of 7,000 yesterday – that’s 20 times the number it would receive usually.
With the coronavirus crisis now labelled a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, there are now 119 confirmed cases across the island, including 29 in the North. And there has been one confirmed death from coronavirus in Ireland.
The HSE has also confirmed that it is in discussion with hotels regarding isolation beds for patients to relieve pressure on hospitals, with chief executive Paul Reid saying it has had significant offers from the sector.
And people coming back from Spain and Italy from today have been asked to restrict their movements for the next two weeks, which includes not going to work.
Spain has more than 2,000 cases and its government reported 84 deaths yesterday morning, up from 47 on Wednesday.
President Trump announced the state of national emergency, as the number of people who have contracted coronavirus continues to rise, while the numbers infected in Europe are also escalating.
The HSE said it will expand its hotline service, with staff being redeployed and contract workers drafted in.
Demand is expected to grow significantly in the coming days. David Leach, Deputy Head of Communications with the HSE, said yesterday: ‘We are experiencing a very understandable surge in calls this week, as people are increasingly concerned, and also responding to the changes being introduced by the Government to combat Covid-19.’
He added: ‘We’re extending the service to meet this new demand, which we expect to continue and to grow.
‘We have increased resources to the service by redeploying additional staff and by using external contractors. Despite this, we fully acknowledge that waiting times have been longer than we would wish, at times of peak demand, and apologise to members of the public for this,’ he said.
Mr Leach added that staff who are providing the service are working extremely hard and doing their best to meet all requests for guidance and support.
And he said that the health executive is also working to expand the technical capabilities of the service and has asked those with general queries to use the HSE website in the first instance.
‘We would ask the public who have general or information questions about Covid-19 to use HSE.ie as their first port of call, if they have easy access to the internet.
‘Our site is very comprehensive, and is updated with new and updated information several times a day.
‘We are aiming to preserve the information line for people who may be unwell, or who need further guidance or support over and above what is online,’ Mr Leach said.
He added that it is hoped to use the website to meet the needs of people who don’t use online information readily and those who have specific needs or abilities.
The HSElive information line is currently open from 8am to 8pm from Monday to Friday and from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Four of the new cases here were healthcare workers.
And the number of cases is
Four new cases here are health workers
expected to jump significantly following the latest announcements that testing is set to be rolled out more widely, and as the threshold for testing was lowered to all those displaying symptoms of the virus, including fever, chills and dry cough.
However, several GPs expressed their frustrations yesterday at the refusal by the HSE to test patients displaying symptoms of the virus, amid confusion over the threshold for testing as it was reduced later in the day yesterday.
The National Public Health Emergency Team said yesterday that anyone with a fever of 38 degrees or more or chills or symptoms of respiratory infection, including a cough, will be considered when assessing the requirement for testing. It also approved new guidance in relation to self-isolation at home where appropriate.
This means that confirmed cases of the virus will no longer be admitted to hospital unless it is clinically necessary for the patient to be there.
At yesterday evening’s briefing in the Department of Health, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan acknowledged that the current waiting time for testing is currently up to 24 hours.
However, he noted that this will be reduced as testing is about to be significantly upscaled.
The HSE yesterday announced that Clinical Assessment Hubs were to be established nationwide to move Covid-19 testing into the community, while the first drivethrough testing centre was opened in Cork.
Testing will still only be carried out on foot of a referral from people’s family doctor.
Dr Liam Glynn, a Co. Clare GP and Professor of General Practice at University of Limerick, said they had people in surgeries yesterday morning that did not meet the strict algorithm for testing and he called on the health authorities to immediately ramp up community testing so as to ease the pressure on the community.
He said: ‘South Korea at its peak were doing 700 tests per million inhabitants per day, while at the moment we are doing less than 40 per day.
‘We need a massive redeployment of staff into this area.
‘Testing won’t save anybody but it will allow us to identify anyone with the condition and isolate them appropriately,’ the doctor and health expert warned.
‘We need to get this right and we need to do this now. We as human beings are the vectors for this disease.’