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PUBLIC HEALTH (OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE)
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1 Faculty of Medicine, 
University of Ljubljana, 
Ljubljana, Slovenia
2 Department of Infectious 
Diseases and Febrile 
Illnesses, University 
Medical Centre Ljubljana, 
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Correspondence/
Korespondenca:
Mojca Matičič, e: mojca.
maticic@kclj.si
Key words:
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic; 
information dissemination; 
call centre; crisis 
management; public 
health
Ključne besede:
pandemija virusa SARS-
CoV-2; diseminacija 
informacij; klicni center; 
krizno upravljanje; javno 
zdravje
Received: 2. 7. 2020
Accepted: 4. 11. 2020
eng slo element
en article-lang
10.6016/ZdravVestn.3126 doi
2.7.2020 date-received
4.11.2020 date-accepted
Public Health (Occupational medicine) Javno zdravstvo (varstvo pri delu) discipline
Professional article Strokovni članek article-type
A centralised novel coronavirus telephone 
helpline: a tool for managing and tracking the 
nation’s response to the COVID-19 epidemic in 
Slovenia
Osrednji klicni center za informacije o novem 
koronavirusu: orodje za obvladovanje in sprem-
ljanje odziva prebivalk in prebivalcev Slovenije 
med epidemijo covida-19
article-title
A centralised novel coronavirus telephone 
helpline
Osrednji klicni center za informacije o novem 
koronavirusu
alt-title
 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, information dissemi-
nation, call centre, crisis management, public 
health
pandemija virusa SARS-CoV-2, diseminacija 
informacij, klicni center, krizno upravljanje, javno 
zdravje
kwd-group
The authors declare that there are no conflicts 
of interest present.
Avtorji so izjavili, da ne obstajajo nobeni 
konkurenčni interesi. conflict
year volume first month last month first page last page
2020 89 11 12 702 709
name surname aff email
Mojca Matičič 2 mojca.maticic@kclj.si
name surname aff
Kevin Pelicon 1
Ivana Krajnc 1
Klemen Petek 1
eng slo aff-id
Faculty of Medicine, University 
of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Medicinska fakulteta, Univerza v 
Ljubljani, Ljubljana, Slovenija
1
Department of Infectious 
Diseases and Febrile Illnesses, 
University Medical Centre 
Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Klinika za infekcijske bolezni in 
vročinska stanja, Univerzitetni 
klinični center Ljubljana, 
Ljubljana, Slovenija
2
A centralised novel coronavirus telephone 
helpline: a tool for managing and tracking 
the nation’s response to the COVID-19 
epidemic in Slovenia
Osrednji klicni center za informacije o novem koronavirusu: 
orodje za obvladovanje in spremljanje odziva prebivalk 
in prebivalcev Slovenije med epidemijo covida-19
Kevin Pelicon,1 Ivana Krajnc,1 Klemen Petek,1 Mojca Matičič2
Abstract
In response to neighbouring Italy’s accelerating outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 
(COVID-19), Slovenia established a national toll-free telephone helpline, which operated from 9 
March until 12 June 2020 and answered more than 40 thousand calls in its first ten weeks alone. 
It was operated by medical students and integrated professionals from diverse fields in order to 
provide trustworthy, accurate, and understandable information to the citizens of Slovenia. We 
examine the impact that this centralised helpline had on managing the COVID-19 health crisis by 
shaping and monitoring the public’s response.
Izvleček
Centralni klicni center za informacije o novem koronavirusu je bil v Sloveniji ustanovljen na na-
cionalni ravni kot odziv na izbruh v sosednji Italiji. Deloval je od 9. marca do 12. junija 2020. Samo 
v prvih desetih tednih delovanja so svetovalci odgovorili na več kot 40.000 klicev. Državljanom 
so v klicnem centru svetovali študentje medicine s podporo strokovnjakov z različnih področij, 
s čimer je bila zagotovljena verodostojnost, točnost in razumljivost posredovanih informacij. V 
prispevku proučujemo vlogo osrednjega klicnega centra pri obvladovanju epidemije covida-19 
in spremljanju odziva prebivalk in prebivalcev Slovenije na uveljavljene ukrepe za preprečevanje 
širjenja okužbe z novim koronavirusom.
Cite as/Citirajte kot: Pelicon K, Krajnc I, Petek K, Matičič M. A centralised novel coronavirus telephone 
helpline: a tool for managing and tracking the nation’s response to the COVID-19 epidemic in Slovenia. Zdrav 
Vestn. 2020;89(11–12):702–9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6016/ZdravVestn.3126
Copyright (c) 2020 Slovenian Medical Journal. This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Slovenian
Medical
Journal
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PROFESSIONAL ARTICLE
A centralised novel coronavirus telephone helpline
1 Introduction
In response to the outbreak of the 
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) 
in neighbouring Italy, one of Europe’s 
epicentres at the time (1,2), Slovenia 
rapidly prepared to fight not only the 
disease itself but the ensuing »infodem-
ic« of factual inaccuracies and misinfor-
mation, which according to the WHO 
are just as dangerous (3). Particularly in 
times of healthcare crises, the citizens’ 
perception of risk determines their re-
sponse and adherence to public health 
guidelines and recommendations. Scien-
tific evidence in academic literature does 
not necessarily translate to the broader 
public’s understanding. To bridge this 
gap and to trigger the widespread ad-
justment in behaviour that was needed 
to curb the spread of severe acute respi-
ratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-
CoV-2), it was essential for the public to 
be given understandable, accurate, trust-
worthy, and timely information that was 
tailored to their needs and circumstanc-
es and was delivered sympathetically 
and compassionately (4,5).
Five days after the first case of 
COVID-19 was confirmed in Slovenia 
and with 31 reported cases altogether 
(6), the country established a national 
toll-free coronavirus telephone helpline, 
which operated from 9 March until 12 
June 2020. It worked alongside other 
previously established communication 
channels, such as that of the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs, the National Institute of 
Public Health, and others, all with the 
common goal of providing the country’s 
two-million population with reliable and 
up-to-date information. We examine the 
first two months of its operation from 9 
March to 15 May 2020 and argue that the 
centralized call centre, which was unique 
in Slovenia, played a significant role in 
observing the public’s response and thus 
in successfully managing the COVID-19 
epidemic in the country.
2 Unique structure and a 
multidisciplinary team
The coronavirus call centre was 
founded by the Government Communi-
cation Office of the Republic of Slovenia 
in cooperation with the Clinic for Infec-
tious Diseases and Febrile Illnesses of 
the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 
the National Institute of Public Health, 
the Ministry of Health and the Ministry 
of Public Administration. It operated 
seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 
and was available at a toll-free domestic 
and an international phone number (7). 
The call centre was heavily promoted at 
press conferences, in media outlets, and 
on the Internet, where it was prominent-
ly featured.
To ensure competent responses to 
what were expected to be medical ques-
tions, students of the Faculty of Medi-
cine of the University of Ljubljana were 
invited to participate as call centre advis-
ers. Of the 189 who responded, 66 were 
chosen. Eventually, it turned out most 
effective to further reduce the number 
of students to a core team of predomi-
nantly senior-year ones, who worked 
best in the team, had flexible schedules, 
were highly motivated, and had already 
passed courses in infectious diseases, 
public health, and psychiatry. The stu-
dents underwent intensive training on 
COVID-19 itself, communication skills, 
phone etiquette, confidentiality practic-
es, consular services for travellers and 
citizens abroad, and received an exten-
sive knowledge database from which 
they could source answers. Prior to 
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starting work in the call centre, students 
also completed multiple simulated calls 
with scenarios such as threatening, in-
sulting, anxious, and crying callers. They 
were also trained in the use of  technical 
equipment and received instructions on 
logging calls into the system.
The aim of the helpline was to create 
a one-stop-shop for citizens with ques-
tions on the COVID-19 pandemic, so 
according to best practice, the call cen-
tre welcomed experts from various fields 
and institutions (8). This meant that the 
students could permanently consult with 
specialists of infectious diseases, public 
health professionals, and psychiatrists, 
as well as representatives of the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs and Civil Protection 
Services. Furthermore, experts from the 
Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of 
Education, Science and Sport, the La-
bour Inspectorate, as well as others were 
available on demand. In anticipation of 
questions regarding newly introduced 
governmental measures and public 
health guidelines, additional institutions 
were asked to contribute and the config-
uration of the call centre’s team was dy-
namically adjusted. To guarantee consis-
tency among advisers and to ensure they 
were acquainted with current events and 
new legislation, the team received daily 
or even hourly briefings.
3 A proactive approach
The call centre was unique in that it 
took a proactive approach to solving in-
dividual callers’ problems. The advisers 
did not only passively relay information. 
Instead, they actively engaged in finding 
solutions with the expert consultants 
on-site, sought answers from various de-
cision-makers and stakeholders, alerted 
them to ambiguities in legislation, and 
integrated these inputs to provide citi-
zens with reliable and understandable 
answers. The knowledge database was 
continuously updated with informa-
tion the call centre received from third 
parties, such as the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, the National Institute of Public 
Health, the Ministry of the Interior and 
others, as well as by the experts them-
selves (Figure 1).
The efficacy of such a model of a cen-
tralised helpline is perhaps best demon-
strated by the fact that the multidisci-
plinary team of experts and advisers was 
able to resolve 98% of queries on the Figure 1: The protocol for answering questions and obtaining answers in the national coronavirus call centre during the COVID-19 epidemic in Slovenia, 2020.
No
A domestic or international call reaches the helpline
A student answers the phone
The question is forwarded to competent authorities
for clarification
(the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of 
Public Health, the Ministry of the Interior, the
Ministry of Foreign Aairs, the Ministry of
Education, Science and Sport, the Police, etc.)
The student knows the answer
The answer is in the knowledge database
One of the call centre's experts has the answer
The caller is asked to leave their contact information,
the call is ended and entered into the system
An answer to the question is received
The answer is added to the knowledge database
The caller is called back or e-mailed 
with the answer
(2 %  of questions)
The caller is given the answer and 
the call is entered into the system
(98 % of questions)
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
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PROFESSIONAL ARTICLE
A centralised novel coronavirus telephone helpline
specialists of infectious diseases, public 
health professionals, and psychiatrists, 
as well as representatives of the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs and Civil Protection 
Services. Furthermore, experts from the 
Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of 
Education, Science and Sport, the La-
bour Inspectorate, as well as others were 
available on demand. In anticipation of 
questions regarding newly introduced 
governmental measures and public 
health guidelines, additional institutions 
were asked to contribute and the config-
uration of the call centre’s team was dy-
namically adjusted. To guarantee consis-
tency among advisers and to ensure they 
were acquainted with current events and 
new legislation, the team received daily 
or even hourly briefings.
3 A proactive approach
The call centre was unique in that it 
took a proactive approach to solving in-
dividual callers’ problems. The advisers 
did not only passively relay information. 
Instead, they actively engaged in finding 
solutions with the expert consultants 
on-site, sought answers from various de-
cision-makers and stakeholders, alerted 
them to ambiguities in legislation, and 
integrated these inputs to provide citi-
zens with reliable and understandable 
answers. The knowledge database was 
continuously updated with informa-
tion the call centre received from third 
parties, such as the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, the National Institute of Public 
Health, the Ministry of the Interior and 
others, as well as by the experts them-
selves (Figure 1).
The efficacy of such a model of a cen-
tralised helpline is perhaps best demon-
strated by the fact that the multidisci-
plinary team of experts and advisers was 
able to resolve 98% of queries on the Figure 1: The protocol for answering questions and obtaining answers in the national coronavirus call centre during the COVID-19 epidemic in Slovenia, 2020.
No
A domestic or international call reaches the helpline
A student answers the phone
The question is forwarded to competent authorities
for clarification
(the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of 
Public Health, the Ministry of the Interior, the
Ministry of Foreign Aairs, the Ministry of
Education, Science and Sport, the Police, etc.)
The student knows the answer
The answer is in the knowledge database
One of the call centre's experts has the answer
The caller is asked to leave their contact information,
the call is ended and entered into the system
An answer to the question is received
The answer is added to the knowledge database
The caller is called back or e-mailed 
with the answer
(2 %  of questions)
The caller is given the answer and 
the call is entered into the system
(98 % of questions)
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
spot, while only the remaining two per-
cent were forwarded to competent au-
thorities for further clarification. Callers 
were also actively encouraged to submit 
suggestions and initiatives which were 
later aggregated by the call centre staff 
and forwarded to legislators for consid-
eration. In fact, many callers’ initiatives 
were even included in new legislative 
measures (9). Such an ongoing proac-
tive communication between the call 
centre, the public, and decision-makers 
brought about an additional role of the 
call centre: it became an important tool 
for observing the public’s response to 
new mitigation measures in terms of de-
termining key areas of concern and for 
assessing where further clarification was 
needed.
4 Analysis of the calls
We examined the data from 9 March, 
when the call centre began to operate, 
until 15 May 2020, when Slovenia an-
nounced an end to the COVID-19 epi-
demic. The following week, starting with 
18 May 2020, the call centre’s business 
hours were reduced to only weekdays 
between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The helpline 
ceased to operate after 14 weeks, on 12 
June 2020.
By 15 May 2020, the helpline advis-
ers had already answered a total of 40 
174 calls. On an average weekday, this 
translated to 685 calls daily, while on 
weekends and public holidays the aver-
age number of answered calls was 380 
(Figure 2). The longest call lasted for 
one hour and 29 minutes. The number 
of advisers was adjusted daily, based on 
the expected number of calls and con-
sidering fluctuations between weekdays 
and weekends, imminent or recent pub-
lic health announcements, legislative 
action, and promotion of the helpline in 
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the media.
The content of the calls changed in 
accordance with the progression of the 
epidemic and governmental restrictions 
(Figure 3). Initially, a considerable pro-
portion of callers sought medical advice 
with questions about COVID-19 signs 
and symptoms, viral transmission, and 
Figure 2: The daily number of answered calls by the national coronavirus helpline and important milestones (10) during 
the COVID-19 epidemic in Slovenia, 2020 (n= 40 174).
Data source: the Government Communication Office of the Republic of Slovenia. Permission for data use obtained.
0
500
1000
1500
Weekends and public holidaysWeekdays
Ma
y 1
1
Ma
y 4
Ap
ril 
27
Ap
ril 
20
Ap
ril 
13
Ap
ril 
6
Ma
rch
 30
Ma
rch
 23
Ma
rch
 16
Ma
rch
 9
D
a
il
y 
n
u
m
b
e
r 
o
f 
a
n
sw
e
re
d
 c
a
ll
s
Timeline
March 12
• WHO declares pandemic
• Slovenia declares epidemic
March 13
• New government of Slovenia 
takes oice
• Call centre heavily promoted at 
government press conference
• Temporary hold on 
non-essential medical services 
announced
March 16
• Educational institutions 
close
• Non-essential stores and 
services close
• Ban on public 
transportation
March 20
• General 
restriction of 
movement in 
public spaces
March 11
• Border controls with Italy 
March 30
• Restriction of movement 
between municipalities
April 4
• 14-day quarantine 
for people entering 
Slovenia
April 11
• Easing of 
restrictions on 
certain elective 
healthcare 
services 
April 12
• Shortening of 
the quarantine for 
people entering 
Slovenia from 14 
to 7 days, 
followed by a 
swab test on day 
7
April 15
• Facemasks and gloves mandatory in closed public spaces
• National study on the prevalance of SARS-CoV-2 announced
April 20
• Re-opening of certain stores and services
April 30
• Restriction of 
movement 
between 
municipalities 
lied
May 6
• Results of the national 
study on the prevalance of 
SARS-CoV-2 made public
May 9
• Restrictions on all healthcare services eased
May 15
• Slovenia announces end of epidemic
• End of quarantine for EU travelers entering 
Slovenia
• End of general restriction of movement in public 
spaces announced
May 11
• Public transportation resumes, but with 
restrictions
preventive measures. However, this ini-
tial surge likely coincided with the on-
going season of other upper respiratory 
tract infections, which are common in 
March, making it difficult to distinguish 
them from the new coronavirus infec-
tion (11). In subsequent weeks, it became 
apparent that citizens became more edu-
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PROFESSIONAL ARTICLE
A centralised novel coronavirus telephone helpline
cated about COVID-19 and became less 
likely to call about unrelated symptoms. 
As Slovenia introduced tighter restric-
tions towards the end of March 2020, 
the focus of the queries shifted to miti-
gation measures such as quarantine and 
restrictions on public movement. On 
30 March 2020, when the government 
banned travel between municipalities, a 
decision unprecedented since the 1972 
smallpox epidemic in former Yugoslavia 
(12), the helpline represented one of the 
first points of contact for shocked and 
unprepared citizens seeking reassurance 
and help. A similar trend could be seen 
later, when the epidemiological situation 
in Slovenia stabilised to the point where 
the country could announce an end to 
the COVID-19 epidemic and ease bor-
der restrictions and quarantine proce-
dures for people entering the country on 
15 May 2020 (10,13).
Throughout the helpline’s operation, 
a variety of social and welfare issues 
were raised by callers and became more 
apparent as the epidemic progressed. In-
deed, the national call centre became a 
place for people in distress to seek not 
Figure 3: The daily proportion of answered calls by the national coronavirus helpline for three common topics in 
accordance with relevant milestones (6,10) during the COVID-19 epidemic in Slovenia, 2020 (n = 40 174).
Data source: the Government Communication Office of the Republic of Slovenia. Permission for data use obtained.
March 30
• Restriction of movement 
between municipalities
May 15
• End of quarantine for EU 
travelers entering Slovenia
P
ro
p
o
rt
io
n
 o
f 
d
a
il
y 
a
n
sw
e
re
d
 c
a
ll
s 
[%
]
Timeline
April 30
• Restriction of movement 
between municipalities lied
April 12
• Quarantine shortened to 7 days, 
followed by a swab test on day 7
April 4
• 14-day 
quarantine 
for people 
entering 
Slovenia
March 14
• First death due to COVID-19 
reported
0
10
20
30
40
50
QuarantineMovement between municipalitiesSigns and symptoms
Ma
y 1
1
Ma
y 4
Ap
ril 
27
Ap
ril 
20
Ap
ril 
13
Ap
ril 
6
Ma
rch
 30
Ma
rch
 23
Ma
rch
 16
Ma
rch
 9
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only information but also assistance. The 
psychological and psychiatric support 
that was available on the spot to callers, 
as well as to advisers and experts, was 
thus an invaluable part of the operation.
As the country entered a post-epi-
demic period and with some measures 
still in place, the call centre continued 
to operate until 12 June 2020. Besides 
aggressive testing, contact tracing, and 
physical distancing, which proved essen-
tial in limiting the spread of COVID-19 
in Slovenia (14), informing and listening 
to citizens’ needs proved to be a power-
ful tool as well.
5 Conclusion
To the best of our knowledge, this 
is the first report of such a centralised 
model of a helpline in Slovenia. Since its 
inception, it has become nationally rec-
ognised for providing accurate and reli-
able information in an effective and sym-
pathetic manner. Moreover, it worked 
proactively and helped the government 
in shaping its coronavirus response by 
offering an insight into the citizens’ 
needs and concerns. The decision to in-
vite medical students as helpline advis-
ers during the COVID-19 pandemic and 
to support them with expert consultants 
from various fields surpassed all expec-
tations.
Based on Slovenia’s good practice, we 
propose that other countries implement 
a similar model for managing future 
public health crises such as a possible 
new surge in SARS-CoV-2 infections. 
When developing a crisis response sys-
tem, a centralised, easily accessible, 
toll-free, and well-promoted telephone 
helpline for providing reliable and trust-
worthy information given by competent 
advisers in cooperation with various 
experts and supported by psychologists 
and psychiatrists, should be established. 
Seeking answers and solutions by facili-
tating effective communication between 
the public and stakeholders and pro-
viding feedback to decision-makers for 
planning further measures became an 
integral supporting mechanism for oth-
er response activities.
The authors believe that the role of 
centralised call centres as a response 
mechanism to public health crises should 
be further investigated. A robust model 
of a helpline can encourage appropriate 
awareness, but more research is needed 
to assess to what degree a one-stop-shop 
helpline can shape the public’s response 
and increase adherence to governmental 
mitigation measures.
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