The Red Cross Helpline is receiving more and more phone calls from people in quarantine. For example, callers want to know whether they are not allowed to go outside halfway through the quarantine period, the Red Cross reports Thursday.
Callers also sometimes say that the rules around quarantine are not clear. The Red Cross Helpline is also called by people who are in quarantine and who do not know anyone who, for example, can buy them groceries or pick up medicines from the pharmacy.
“While talking there often turns out to be a solution: a neighbor or a delivery service, for example,” said the aid organization. “If a caller really can’t figure it out, local volunteers from the Red Cross or Ready2Helpers (civilian aid workers) can lend a helping hand.”
Since the opening of the ‘corona helpline’, a total of more than 24,000 phone calls have been received. The helpline was opened at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Netherlands. At that time, questions mainly came in about the corona virus and the measures.
Now that the number of phone calls is increasing as a result of the rapid increase in the number of corona infections, the Red Cross is deploying extra employees so that all questions about quarantine can be answered. Information about quarantine can also be found at the website from the national government.
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