Online doctors offer free services

Tianjin WeDoctor Internet Hospital, an online medical consultation service set up in late January, had 20 million visits in its first month and 43,374 doctors providing free services.

"The hospital has helped relieve the burden on patients to visit hospitals during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia," said Wang Xin, a senior executive of the portal.

Noting the success, the National Health Commission issued a notice to promote the Tianjin WeDoctor model nationwide last month.

The model makes services available in remote areas, such as Enshi Tujia autonomous prefecture in Hubei province, the region Tianjin has been assisting since the outbreak of the epidemic, as well as the Tibet autonomous region and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

In February, Dezhou, Shandong province, announced it would inject up to 1 billion yuan ($143.4 million) to set up a WeDoctor-style internet hospital. It was part of the first batch of large projects listed after the province announced it would resume production and investment.

Other cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have launched a campaign to enhance online medical consultations during the ongoing campaign to combat the coronavirus.

For instance, Fosun Pharma in Shanghai opened a three-day free online medical consultation service on Thursday.