The free information telephone line about the coronavirus 900 112 061, launched by the Government of the Canary Islands to answer citizens' queries about COVID19, from general information to possible cases, attended a total of 61,592 calls between March 10 and 20. In that same period, the appointment service of the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) through 012 registered a total of 199,996 calls. Added to these are the general information calls from the Government of the Canary Islands.
The teams of the Canary Islands Health Service and the Ministry of Public Administrations, Justice and Security are satisfied with the good response times of level 1 telephone assistance, which have been reduced to 42 seconds in the first level, with an average speaking time of 03:11 minutes, but they are concerned with improving response times in the technical health levels. This is explained by the Minister of Public Administrations, Justice and Security, Julio Pérez, who is committed to resolving the times in level 2 nursing care, and in 1-1-2, where conversations are much longer, generating longer waiting times.
Reinforcements
In that sense, the general director of Modernization and Quality of Services, Pablo Hernández, highlights that two new rooms have been enabled for telephone assistance on the Coronavirus, which will allow more technical personnel to be incorporated in the coming days. At the same time, this will allow more personnel to be incorporated into the 1-1-2 rooms.
In addition, work is being done to enable two educational centers as call centers to have greater capacity, and the incorporation of psychologists' services to meet the needs of the population is being analyzed.
Hernández also highlights that the 900 line has been reinforced, allowing care in different languages through simultaneous translation, as well as computer systems to allow call tracking and control.
Regarding general information, Hernández adds that the documentary staff has been increased to answer all citizen questions with procedures with the state government, all departments of the Canary Islands Executive and the rest of the public administrations.
Hernández specifies that they are acting proactively to incorporate all the issues that arise in a matter of hours, allowing to combat misinformation, and emphasizes that the information and telephone service of the 012 telephone has been reorganized, and urgent, health and essential services have been prioritized.
In that sense, he affirms that the information related to health, protocols, security, state of alarm, employment, tax agency, tourism and prior appointment has been updated, as well as information for foreigners who are in the Canary Islands, all with the aim of being able to answer any question related to the current situation.
Tax assistance has also been increased, with the call center of Grecasa and the Canary Islands Tax Agency, and the work of the Canary Islands Employment Service with its own care service has been intensified.
Three phone numbers and three levels of care
The telephone call service of the Government of the Canary Islands is currently organized into three services. The number 012, for general information from the Government; 1-1-2, only for emergency calls; and the Info Coronavirus 900 112 061 service, for information on the state of alarm, coronavirus and to report possible cases.
This last Info Coronavirus service contemplates three levels of telephone assistance: level 1, to attend to information; level 2, for nursing triage; and level 3, for testing and follow-up. This protocol, which has been in place for almost a month, has reduced telephone pressure on 1-1-2, which should only be used for emergencies.
The counselor Julio Pérez highlights the importance of the Info Coronavirus 900 112 061 telephone service, which operates 24 hours a day, since, after the health and security services, it is part of the first line of the fight against the coronavirus since it allows citizens to remain informed with reliable data, combating misinformation, attending to their demands and concerns and providing health care.
Pérez makes a call to the entire citizenry to always be informed through official sources, including the telephones and the website and social networks of the Government of the Canary Islands, which will continue to transmit information permanently with the utmost rigor and transparency, and asks that the recommendations of the authorities be followed. Likewise, he insists that to make inquiries about the virus you have to call 900 112 061 and that the 1-1-2 telephone service should be used exclusively for emergencies. General inquiries from the Government of the Canary Islands, which in these days prioritize health and urgent services, can be directed to 012.
A high volume of calls
Julio Pérez has also detailed that of the total of almost 270,000 calls received between March 10 and 20, 14,254 corresponded to level 1, coronavirus information; and 20,343 to level 2 (nursing triage); as well as 199,999 prior appointments to the SCS through 012, to which are added another 3,854 that were derived from the 900 line to the 012 telephone information service. The number of calls is completed with general information inquiries, calls with interpretation by languages and by the so-called 'not contacted', made by people who hang up the phone before contact is established.
The increase in services and personnel has forced to have more physical space, to maintain personal distance between operators, so today Sunday, March 21, has begun to enable two new telephone care centers, one in the College of Early Childhood and Primary Education "Iberia" of Las Palmas, next to the Multiple Services Building, and another in the Institute of Secondary Education "Alcalde Bernabé Rodríguez", next to the Market of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
