The 89-year-old said the government's social distancing restrictions had been especially hard on residents over 70 who were asked to self-isolate for their own protection.

Last week, Mr Caldwell, a Wodonga Senior Citizen committee member, wrote a Letter to the Editor offering his phone number to people who needed someone to talk to. He was very pleased with the response.

"There are a lot of lonely people," he said.

"I've been ringing around and everyone is grateful and seem relieved to have someone to talk to and something to do."

Mr Caldwell said he was relatively fit, healthy and social but he felt for those who were less mobile and less connected.

"I live on my own, do housework on own but I'm running out of jobs fast," he said. "I think I've cleaned the linen press three times so all the towels were folded the same way... it's getting desperate.

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"[Many people] couldn't get to our senior citizens events quick enough because it was company and many were sad when they left. It's a sad life, I live on my own, but I can get around and talk people... not everyone can do that."

Lifeline Australia chairman John Brogden said loneliness was on the rise and the service was fielding more calls for help than ever before in its 57-year-history.

"In effect COVID-19's social distancing, isolation and lockdown restrictions are virtually ordering people to be lonely for the sake of their physical health, but the impact on people's mental health can be devastating," he said.

Mr Brogden called on the community to reach out to those who may be living alone or who may find the physical distancing and self-isolation a struggle.

Despite the tough times, Mr Caldwell said people were coming together.

"It's uniting people," he said. "Neighbours who probably haven't spoken in five years are now singing over the fence... it's bringing people together although it's a bad time. The only way we're going to succeed in this terrible time is by all working together."