Calls to military healthcare line jump 500 percent amid coronavirus

Phone calls to the U.S. military health system nurse advice line have increased by about 500 percent in just the past few days amid the fast-spreading coronavirus, the director of the Defense Health Agency said on Thursday.

U.S. Army Lieutenant General Ronald Place told reporters at the Pentagon that the line was receiving almost 8,000 calls per days and sometimes over 10,000 calls.

Place said that the military's response to coronavirus was having a significant impact on care provided at military healthcare facilities.