Since the COVID-19 hotlines were set up, operators have been receiving prank calls which has made contact tracing for the surveillance team and the job of the hotline operators difficult.
This was reported by the Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) on Saturday during a programme hosted by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on the National Communications Network (NCN).
MoPH representative Dr Luella Sucre revealed that the prank calls have been making it difficult for the hotlines’ operators and the surveillance team to separate persons who are truly sick, from people who are just calling to see if the hotline is working or to report persons who they think are sick without providing the necessary data that is required to trace that person. “They are not giving a name, an occupation or address so in this case we are not able to effectively follow through and respond the way as we should for COVID-19,” she explained.