Local helpline launched for people suffering COVID fallout
PHUKET OFFICIALS have launched a 24-hour hotline to help people who are struggling to cope with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 1300 hotline, launched last Friday (Jan 7), provides advice and coordinated assistance from a range of government departments and support agencies to those that have been affected in various ways by the pandemic, be it emotionally, mentally, financially or otherwise.
At the official launch Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew commented, “With the pandemic now entering its third year, there have been huge numbers of people affected mentally, emotionally and financially by the fallout.”
He highlighted extreme cases where people had become so desperate that they took their own lives, citing numerous examples of people who had jumped from the bridges at the north end of the island.
Rewat Areerob, President of Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (PPAO), added that there are so many examples of people who have lost their jobs and income stream due to the pandemic who have become desperate and see no way out which is why the PPAO and the Phuket Office of the Office of Social Development and Human Security have decided to collaborate and offer a service to help those in need.
The 1300 helpline will have professionally trained staff at the end of the phone who can offer support and guidance that can help relieve people’s problems and improve the overall situation for residents in need on the island, he said.
“With every case, every problem, people are asked to leave their information,” Mr Rewat said. “If there is a problem that the provincial administrative organisation can take action on and help immediately then they will do.”
Mr Rewat added that the strain on families in dire need, who are struggling for bare essentials such as rice and food, has resulted in family members taking their own lives but that now the PPAO is ready to visit these areas and such families to provide support.