Support network for the elderly Alone was receiving on average 1,100 calls per day. (Stock image)Older people contacting a support line were becoming “increasingly distressed” by cocooning measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that the gap in community services for older people became very obvious at the start of the pandemic and “we now know from statistics that older people were the most negatively impacted by the arrival of Covid-19 in Ireland”. He said last March, the organisation had implemented a seven-day week, 12-hour day national support line. “Within two weeks of the national support line launching, it began to receive thousands of calls from older people.”Read MoreHe said that calls to the national support line increased to 1,100 calls a day.

Source: Irish Independent May 21, 2021 01:30 UTC