Ahead of the curve.
Towards the latter part of last year Austria introduced a new medical hotline. Partly because there is a lack of doctors and therefore a rush on the emergency hospital rooms for something that needn't have been seen there or even to have warranted calling the country doctor out of bed. A waste of resources needed for real emergencies, not necessarily the public's fault but more because the population is getting older, sicker and the country doctors fewer.
This hotline is brilliant in its concept. In an emergency outside of doctor's hours, this hotline has to be called and there skilled medical staff will ask the questions to determine if one can merely take a ' painkiller ', needs to be fetched by an ambulance or if possible, drive oneself to the hospital. Genius, isn't it?
That genius has now born fruit. Once the corona virus made itself felt here in Austria, we were inundated with Government's messages on all media channels to phone this hotline if we suspected we had this virus, and under no circumstance were any of us with this suspicion to go to our local doctor's rooms or hospital. Austria has organized several mobile corona testing task forces that will then call around to do the testing at one's home, thereby avoiding thousands of possible infections of medical staff and others.
Watching a report about the lines outside a New York City hospital slinging around the block with people ill, feeling they might have this corona virus and wanting to be treated or tested, made me thankful that we have this hotline. Hardly any contagion at these vital places ( hospitals etc ) from people not being sure if they have it or not. After phoning the hotline, those that have it or think they have it are instantly home quarantined and from watching the daily briefing on the numbers, it looks as though we have dodged a bullet. Holding thumbs!
Biggi
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