Red Cross launches dedicated Covid hotline

THE Philippine Red Cross ( PRC) has set up a dedicated hotline to assist persons with their concerns about the coronavirus disease 2019 ( Covid19).

PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sen. Richard Gordon said people with questions about the dreaded disease could dial PRC’s Covid- 19 hotline 1158.

Since its inception last week, the hotline had attended to 128 calls, most were queries about Covid- 19 symptoms and when to seek treatment or hospitalization, he added.

Trained volunteers are handling the calls and providing information aligned with the directives of the Department of Health and the World Health Organization.

“A volunteer doctor is always on standby and ready to provide medical advice to caller” Gordon said.

The hotline also addresses the toll of Covid- 19 on one’s mental health through the help of a volunteer social worker who is ready to attend to callers needing psychosocial support.

Tracing and restoring family links associated with the Covid19 pandemic is also part of the hotline’s services, the PRC chief said.

He added that the hotline is also PRC’s way to dispel misinformation, rumors and myths about the disease.

It also provides a filter to help decongest hospitals because people can call the hotline first to seek for medical advice if hospital admission would be necessary, he said.

Meanwhile, Gordon disclosed that the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which was signed into law on March 23, identified the PRC as a key partner of the government in the distribution of goods and services to prevent and respond to the effects of the pandemic.