Healthline staff have given help to 170,000 Kiwis since the Covid-19 outbreak hit the country in March.
That has led to the National Telehealth Service team some days receiving 10 times more calls than normal for this time of year, National Telehealth Service chief executive Andrew Slater said.
![NeedToKnow3](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/QVZ2LZCTQAGKB7QII6JBCT5QJE.jpg?auth=3947111838770945cd32080ccc21a673e4b0cd2b51cb3047a021d9de5aaf9c0e&width=16&height=17&quality=70&smart=true)
Between March 1 and March 24, there were 130,450 calls to Healthline numbers compared with 25,993 the previous year, data released to the Herald showed.
The huge volume of calls had led some people to spend hours on hold while others were disconnected as they tried unsuccessfully to get through to Healthline for medical advice.