Healthline calls in reinforcements amid biggest flu outbreak in 10 years
New Zealand's Healthline service is experiencing a significant surge in call volume due to a severe flu outbreak and other respiratory illnesses. To manage the increased demand, the service has boosted staffing levels and is collaborating with Plunket to support parents of young children.
Why it matters
The strain on public health infrastructure highlights the ongoing challenges of managing seasonal respiratory outbreaks and the importance of triage services in preventing hospital overcrowding.
Healthline has called in reinforcements to cope with a deluge of calls amid the biggest flu outbreak in years.
Flu-related hospitalisations are at a 10-year high in Auckland , with national infection rates at a four-year high and rising.
Health NZ chief executive Dale Bramley earlier said the entire health system was under pressure, with the spike being driven by influenza A along with cases of RSV, cold viruses and some Covid-19 cases.
The chief operating officer of Wakarongorau Aotearoa, which operates Healthline, Brian O'connell, told Checkpoint the service was handling about 20 percent more calls in the past seven days compared to July.
He said a normal day would see about 1000 calls but this was now up to 1200 to 1300 a day.
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