An estimated one in 10 people who contracted COVID-19 needed some form of additional help from NGOs operating behind the scenes. Their problems ranged from access to food and medicine, handling children with special needs and challenging behaviour, even assistance with pets and farm animals, to loneliness and the “simple need for more attention”, said Tanya Melillo, who leads the Public Health Response Team. Her team is responsible for gathering contacts of positive cases and looking for the source, but they found themselves facing other problems caused by the pandemic and stepped in help. Melillo’s case management morphed into a more humanitarian role as the team reached out to patients with the collaboration of NGOs.