Thailand’s Covid hotline inundated with calls over Songkran holiday period

The National Health Security Office says the Covid-19 1330 hotline received around 10,000 calls a day over the Songkran holiday period. According to NHSO secretary-general, Dr Jadet Thammathat-aree, many of the calls were requests for medication for Covid patients who were isolating at home. Other callers wanted to find out about treatment available under the universal healthcare scheme.

The Bangkok Post reports Jadet as saying NHSO employees were able to handle all calls, adding that the office expects to see a rise in case numbers following the holiday.

“Our hotline service worked well during the long holiday, but the NHSO must be better prepared to cope with rising Covid-19 cases now the holiday has ended.”

According to the report, the NHSO has instructed employees to work from home in order to combat an expected surge in infections as people return to Bangkok from their home provinces. Jadet says workers handling the Covid hotline will be at full capacity.

The NHSO advises Bangkok residents who receive a positive result from an antigen test to call the hotline for their district, as well as calling the main NHSO hotline. They can also contact City Hall via its Line account, @BKKCOVID19CONNECT, and call the National Institute for Emergency Medicine at 1669.

Covid-19 patients in other provinces are being advised to call their provincial hotlines. Patients with underlying health conditions, or others at risk of severe illness with Covid-19, should call 1130, followed by extension 18. Those with only mild symptoms are asked to call the same hotline, followed by extension 14.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post