Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, has decried the rate of irrelevant calls received on the emergency lines set up for COVID-19 cases.

He described the calls as ‘very distracting’ in the management of coronavirus outbreak in the state and Nigeria, in general.

Abayomi made the remarks on Monday while giving an update on how the state is handling COVID-19 pandemic.

He said, “80 per cent of the calls we receive are hoaxes. People call in with aggressive language. They block our call centre lines and make it difficult for the people that truly need help to get through.”

“11 per cent of the calls we receive are welcome – they are asking for information. Only nine per cent of the calls are actually valid calls, but only four per cent of the valid calls have resulted in a red flag,” he added.

Channels Television reports that the commissioner lamented further that the calls were becoming worrisome and disturbing the interventions of the government in flattening the curve of coronavirus infection.

He, therefore, urged residents to desist from making unnecessary calls to the 08000CORONA lines, pranking health workers, as well as the aggressive use of language to staff of the ministry.