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Rabat – Four days after its launch, the “Allo 300” hotline for information about the novel coronavirus received 38,000 phone calls, averaging 9,500 calls per day, reported Maghreb Arab Press, citing a military source.
The hotline, launched on March 25, aims to provide citizens with advice and information about COVID-19, and offer guidance if callers suspect they have contracted the virus.
Call center agents and trained doctors field the inquiries and ask the callers about symptoms they suffer from. If a case is suspicious, the hotline operators refer the caller to the nearest hospital and give them guidelines to avoid spreading the virus.
The Ministry of Interior collects information from all the received calls and passes it on to regional and local authorities in order to ensure the monitoring and confinement of all suspected COVID-19 cases.
The ministry launched the hotline in partnership with Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces.
The hotline is the third of its kind. It joins “Allo Yakada” and “Allo SAMU,” launched by the Ministry of Health to provide information and advice about the pandemic. All three hotlines operate 24/7.
While “Allo SAMU” is an exclusive emergency service for people with difficulty breathing, a fever, or a cough, “Allo Yakada” and “Allo 300” provide information and general recommendations on COVID-19, along with updates on the current health situation in Morocco.
Due to the large number of calls received every day, authorities advise calling the hotlines only when necessary.
On March 28, the judicial police in Tangier arrested two women for misusing the “Allo Yakada” hotline and reporting false information.
The women, aged 21 and 22, appeared in a video performing a “prank” on a hotline operator, lying about symptoms they suffer from and about meeting relatives who came from highly-infected Spain and Italy.
