Albertans Are Flooding Health Authority Phone Lines With Their COVID-19 Questions
Albertans are so concerned about novel coronavirus that they've completely overwhelmed their health info line with their burning COVID-19 questions. Thousands of callers clogged the lines as wait times of up to several hours delayed answers. Recent Alberta coronavirus cases could be contributing to the anxiety, but authorities are working hard to help.
Alberta Health Link answers health questions 24/7 in the province, but worries over coronavirus caused the service to be overwhelmed with calls on Tuesday, March 10.
"Yesterday, Health Link received more than 5,700 calls," wrote Tom McMillan, a spokesperson for Alberta Health Services, to Narcity.
"Given this volume, wait times can be high, particularly during peak times," he continued.
If you want to call, avoid doing so between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
According to the Edmonton Journal, Health Link had been swamped with calls since early Saturday, March 7.
McMillan told the Edmonton Journal the response was anticipated.
"The recent cases naturally brought a great deal of attention to this, and that is probably helping drive the call volumes we are seeing," he said to the Edmonton Journal
To help with the sheer number of calls, McMillan said Health Link is training more clinical staff to help take more calls.
"We know that waiting times can be frustrating and thank the public for continued patience," he told Narcity.
Novel coronavirus was recently detected in Alberta, and the cases have rapidly risen since — there are now 14 cases of COVID-19 in the province, according to their health authority. All are travel related.
COVID-19 anxiety started happening even before the first case when Albertans started buying up supplies in stores. But now with actual cases in the province, it seems the anxiety has turned up a notch.
Twitter users responded to Alberta Health Services' tweet with questions and concerns about how their cases will be handled.
Health Link replied saying they're trying to address all concerns within 48 hours.
Although they're available to answer questions, Health Services told callers that if they're not waiting for a diagnosis, they should first check their website for general information.
"It’s important for Albertans to understand what COVID-19 is and what it means for them," wrote McMillan to Narcity.
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