Kerala reopens its COVID-19 call centre

The Kerala government also recently opened multilingual call centres to assist migrant workers in the state, and address their concerns.
Kerala reopens its COVID-19 call centre
Kerala reopens its COVID-19 call centre
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Apart from the soon-to-be Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daily press meet on the COVID-19 situation, citizens in the state can also get their queries answered via the COVID-19 call centre or Disha helpline. In view of the surge in COVID-19 cases in the state, the Kerala government has reopened its COVID-19 call centre, which it had started last year.

People can contact the official helpline numbers — 0471 2309250, 2309251, 2309252, 2309253, 2309254, 2309255. Citizens in the state can call on these numbers to clear their doubts about the COVID-19. Any important information will also be shared with the respective districts and officials concerned, said the Kerala Health Department in an official statement.

The state Health Department also said that they will forward every call from the people to the specific districts and ministries as per the caller’s wish. According to the statement,  the department has appointed well-trained employees from the medical department who will answer people’s queries regarding COVID-19.

The helpline can be used by people living abroad. Last year, Kerala’s Health department’s helpline service Disha received more than 70,000 calls, with 10% of them being from Malayalis residing in other countries. Callers shared current troubles, including mental health issues, due to the pandemic.

Disha was started in 2013 as an initiative of the National Health Mission and the government of Kerala. A 16-member crew has been actively involved in the times of Kerala floods, the Nipah virus outbreak and the Ockhi cyclone. The pandemic, however, proved to be different for the crew, as it involved quarantine, lockdown, loneliness and financial issues, among others.

The Kerala government also recently opened multilingual call centres to assist migrant workers in the state, and address their concerns. The call centres services are available in Hindi, Bengali, Oriya and Assamese, among other regional languages. The Labour Department is also reportedly making arrangements to help the migrant workers register on the Co-WIN portal for the vaccination. The officials have also started circulating video, audio and posters on WhatsApp about COVID-19 in various languages in order to create awareness among the migrant workers.

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