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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe permanent team consists of 15 counsellors and a floor manager (me). But for the COVID-19 outbreak, 55 more volunteers have been added to attend the calls. Six desks have increased to 30. So that at any time, 30 calls can be attended. There are also 12 health workers and two doctors available during every shift. We work 24 hours a day,\u201d Akhila says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently the state government has opened help desks of NORKA (Department of Non Resident Keralites Affairs) in several foreign countries and distress calls from these places would be directed to them. \u201cWe may not be able to do much more sitting in Kerala. A man in Kerala once called to say that his brother in Qatar has tested positive for coronavirus but that he is living with several other men in a den of bachelors. We connected him to the NORKA helpdesk in Qatar,\u201d Akhila says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In some countries, even people who test positive for COVID-19 may be asked to stay in home quarantine and not admitted in hospitals. There are places where no proper medication is advised and patients are simply asked to take Vitamin C. \u201cWhen calls from such places come, we connect them to concerned doctors on the panel. They would give advice regarding medicine and food,\u201d Akhila says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many calls are anxious ones, especially from the elderly. Some just do not know whom to contact in their country of residence. In some countries, it is not possible to go to hospitals to test for the disease even if you have symptoms. It may take days to get an appointment. \u201cIn these cases, again, we can only provide counselling. Only after the helpdesks started could practical help be offered. Problem is the lack of clear guidelines in many countries. We have a proper system here, with clear instructions on the precautions to be taken.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calls even come from other parts of the country asking after the migrants to Kerala. Migrant labourers also make calls asking for food and accommodation. Disha has hired the service of people who can speak in the language of the migrant labourers, informed Dr PV Arun, Arogya Keralam Thiruvananthapuram district programme manager. Such calls are handed over to the concerned departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Disha helpline number is 1056 or 0471-2552056.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a call that distressed them all. A Malayali woman living in the UK had called the Disha helpline number for coronavirus in Kerala, scared and upset. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":225,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.0","language":"ml","enabled_languages":["en","ml"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"ml":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n