Ercole said that although 2019 and 2020 saw roughly the same number of phone calls, there were significant month-to-month differences. There was a major decline during the early part of the pandemic and a spike as things returned to availability. The focus of the calls also pivoted more toward online gambling. Additionally, there was an increase in people contacting the council using other methods, such as its available chat or text features. Online gambling eases access "It's obviously increasingly easy for people to access this new type of activity," Ercole said. "When everything stops, when you're out of work, when your businesses close temporarily, when there's isolation, when you're bored, when you're stressed, when you're anxious, it certainly serves as a very easy-to-access coping tool for a lot of people."