Coimbatore: Collector G S Sameeran inaugurated a tele-counselling unit at his office in the city on Thursday.
The unit aims to provide support by addressing Covid-19 and mental health-related queries.
Organizer of the unit Gladston Xavier, associate professor of Loyola College, said the unit was set up in addition to the control room.
As many as 10 volunteers along with two coordinators would work in two shifts from 8am to 7.30pm every day.
“We will address issues like people’s fear and misconceptions about the Covid-19 infection and anxiety they are dealing with.
There are several uncertainties related to pre and post Covid scenarios and many of them do not even know what to do if tested positive.
We would help the public in all these situations,” he said.
“In addition to attending calls, we would also be making calls to Covid patients who are isolated in houses to check on their health and to ensure that they have not developed any symptoms.
We will follow-up such cases for 14 days from the day they tested positive.
We have decided to make at least 70 such calls a day.” “We have roped in volunteers – lecturers and graduates from the master of social work department – for counselling.
In case of medical queries, the caller will be connected with doctors,” Xavier said.
The unit can be reached at 0422-2201824, 2201825, 2201826, 2201828 and 2201829.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 control room, which is functioning in the district from May 1, has received 20,674 calls, most of which were related to vaccination, e-pass, bed details and Covid-19 queries.