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Over 5,000 doctors have joined Weimai to offer free consultation services since January 21. /CGTN photo
Medical experts are joining online medical consultation platforms to answer patients' questions and relieve public anxiety. Doctors remind the public not to panic, despite the rise in coronavirus cases and deaths.
Xu Haixia is a respiratory medicine doctor from Hangzhou Xiaoshan Hospital, who is now having her Spring Festival holidays with the family. But the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak saddled her with a load of responsibilities because the disease is connected to her specialty area. A few days ago, she decided to join an online medical consultation platform to offer patients help.
Xu told CGTN that each day 200 to 300 people come to her for a consultation. Many of them are panicked, because some already did CT scans and other tests, which showed they were good, but they are still worried.
Xu is one of the thousands of doctors joining Alihealth’s online medical platform. /CGTN photo
In the first few days, most inquiring patients were from Hubei province, but recently inquiries are pouring in from other provinces.
Xu says doctors like her and her colleagues can answer and share good information about the virus and clarify or debunk rumors on social media platforms. It is important to build confidence rather than panic, she noted.
Doctor Xu says many patients can't distinguish between a common flu and this new coronavirus, so it is better to ask professional doctors first.
Recently, more doctors have joined these online medical consultation platforms. Their expertise is playing a key role in answering patients' questions and relieving public anxiety.
Weimai is one of the largest online medical service platforms in China. The company's CEO Qiu Jialin says they started offering free consultation services on January 21.
People are encouraged to consult professional doctors first before go to hospital. /CGTN photo
Qiu Jialin told CGTN that so far over 5,000 doctors specialized in respiratory and infectious diseases are offering consultations in the platform, and almost 250,000 people have been consulted.
Many hospitals across the country are overcrowded with patients, putting pressure on doctors and raising risks of cross infection. Qiu says online medical platforms can cut time and offer primary checks.
Qiu told CGTN that online medical platforms can also help monitor and trace local patients' disease progression and even provide online psychological help.
Doctors say panic is the enemy of public health. As people now have more access to doctor's support, many believe life will return to normal soon.
