The Ministry of

Health and Wellness is reporting that the coronavirus (COVID-19) Call Centre at

the University of the West Indies (UWI) handled a total of 7,376 calls during

its first month of operation from April 6 to May 6.

Of the total

calls, 91 per cent were outbound.

Referrals from

parish health departments for follow-up accounted for 2,165 or 29 per cent;

2,036 or 27 per cent were persons with exposure to the virus but had no

symptoms; 1,773 or 24 per cent were persons with no exposure and no symptoms;

and 406 or 5.5 per cent were persons with no exposure and mild symptoms.

A total of 1,503

quarantine requests were processed. The call centre also handled 197 matters

that had been referred to the Ministry by physicians.

There were 81

calls from persons with exposure to the virus and displaying mild symptoms and

35 from persons with exposure and having moderate to severe symptoms.

The majority of

calls were related to the South East Regional Health Authority with 1,263,

followed by the Western Regional Health Authority at 538, North East Regional

Health Authority with 412, and Southern Regional Health Authority with 319.

The call centre at

UWI was set up to support the work of the Ministry in dealing with COVID-19.

It operates from

8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily under a three-shift arrangement, with four hours

each shift.

There are

currently four volunteer clinicians supporting the activities at the centre.

Some of the

matters dealt with include the controlled re-entry programme, testing protocol

and test sites, mental health calls from persons with depression and having

suicidal thoughts, and COVID-19 positive patients concerned about

discrimination.