INTRODUCTION : World Health Organization (WHO) declared the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. When such a major public health emergency arises, an effective communication between healthcare providers and the general public is a crucial component of the response. In view of this, the Tamil Nadu government initiated the call center to encounter emergency response to the COVID-19 disease outbreak.
METHODOLOGY : A secondary data analysis conducted to analyse the calls received in the COVID-19 call center during the period of November 2020 to June 2023. Official permission to conduct the study was obtained from the DPH&PM, and collected data was analysed using Openepi application.
RESULTS : Maximum calls were received during the year 2021 with morning shift (43.9%) and the majority of calls were from males (80%) between the age group of 16 to 39 years (69.2%). Covid-19 vaccine (65.6%) related calls followed by COVID-19 disease (11.8%) were the most common enquiries made. Maximum number of calls were from residents of Chennai (26.4%) followed by Coimbatore (9.8%).
CONCLUSION : The call center has served what it was meant to achieve. It has been effective in addressing the public and more manpower in needed to reduce the workload during the high call traffic hours. A dedicated call center is to be established for health-related queries during outbreaks which can help the public to prevent from exposure to disease agents and stress.