Jalisco’s Covid-19 hotline, which this week marked one year in service, has received over 150,000 calls, José Parra Sandoval, the call center’s director, said this week.
The hotline attends to people requesting information about the disease, and also schedules appointments for people with Covid-19 symptoms. Doctors attend callers and offer their opinion on whether the symptoms they are hearing are likely to be Covid-19 or another kind of respiratory disease.
“[Around] 47 percent of callers over the past year have been referred for tests,” Parra Sandoval said.
The months with the highest number of calls were November and December of last year, he added.
Operated by the state government, the call center began operations in March 2020 with two lines and eight staff members. This number has risen to 50 operators, with 180 contact tracers on standby. The line is open 24 hours a day.
Parra noted that 18.6 percent of the calls were “false.”
Despite the free testing services offered by the Jalisco Health Department (SSJ) and the University of Guadalajara (UdG), more than half of all tests carried out in the state have been paid for out of pocket by citizens, sources confirm.
The SSJ Covid-19 hotline number is 333-823-3220; to contact the UdG’s similar service, call 333-540-3001. Both offer free testing.