As India's health system grapples with the coronavirus, doctors are increasingly going online to consult with patients suffering less critical or chronic diseases, while the south Asian economy prepares to emerge from a nationwide lockdown.
To head off a rush at clinics and an accompanying risk of infection, many doctors are turning to video calls and WhatsApp chats, in addition to regular telephone calls, to treat patients suffering from illnesses such as diabetes or kidney conditions. "There is a lockdown, patients cannot come, but the disease will not wait," said Sushila Kataria, the director of internal medicine at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram near New Delhi.