The novel coronavirus has shaken the nerves of everyone in Hong Kong. This invisible yet highly infectious virus has struck over 90 people and claimed two lives in just one month. 

What is also concerning is that the symptoms of the new virus are similar to those of a regular flu or pneumonia — coughing, fever and a loss of appetite. 

I spent my Lunar New Year holiday on the mainland. On the eighth day after I came back to Hong Kong, I checked my temperature. It was between 37.2 and 37.3 C. This shocked me — did I have a fever?

I started to go through everything I did after I arrived in Hong Kong and remembered I ran into a man who sneezed near me on my way back to my apartment. Had he infected me?

I checked my temperature several times that day. The result stayed the same. And my throat seemed to have a sour taste. I was filled with anxiety — was I infected? Should I go to the hospital? What would I do if I really was infected? 

I Googled, of course, but the advice I found on the internet varied. Some said my temperature indicated a fever while others said it was a normal. I felt more anxious. 

I told a friend, who recommended I use an app for an online medical consultation. That app, which connects doctors and patients across China, requires you to fill in personal information, like age and gender, your health concerns and your contacts, while asking for permission to use your phone’s camera and microphone. You can also choose what language you want to use during the consultation.

When I hit the “send” button, the app showed I needed to wait one minute before a doctor responded. It was within one minute that a doctor from Guangzhou in Guangdong province answered my call. During the 15-minute online face-to-face consultation, the doctor asked me if I have any of the coronavirus symptoms listed in the government-issued guidelines, what sort of people I had been in contact with in the past days, and whether I wore a mask when going outside.

Then he told me that the chances of me being infected were very low and the temperature I had at this time was normal. He also told me under what circumstances I should immediately go to hospital — a body temperature of 38 C and a feeling of tightness in the chest.  

After I hung up, the app sent me the doctor’s comments on my case. My mind was at ease. And because I was a first-time user, the consultation was free. That was also good news.

Looking back, the consultation also protected me from exposure to the risks of a cross-infection at a hospital. Surgeon Kelvin Wong, who volunteered at the accident and emergency unit of the North District Hospital, told me during an interview that he noticed a rising number of people going to A&Es since early February and most of them had pneumonic symptoms.

I believe when the city is facing threats from this highly infectious novel coronavirus, it is time to have online consultation platforms in Hong Kong. That could be a win-win for both patients and front-line doctors.

The online consultation is effective like a triage. Patients with mild symptoms could be treated in a quicker manner while those who develop severe symptoms could be quickly identified and sent to the hospital.

Hong Kong is notorious for its strained manpower at public hospitals. My cousin who had an acute allergy waited for three hours at a public hospital’s A&E before she was treated. By the time the doctor received her, her rash had gone. But if she had had an online consultation, she would have known what medicine to take to treat the rash instead of waiting in a crowded A&E for three hours, suffering itches and pain.

 Meanwhile, online consultations could prevent a large number of people from flocking to hospitals, and stop people being at risk of getting infected there.  

During my interview with Wong, he noted that front-line doctors and nurses are often on high alert as they never know whether or not the next patient will test positive for the novel coronavirus. They are usually worn out by such pressure. 

 Online consultation is nothing new on the mainland, especially after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. JD Health of e-commerce giant JD, AliHealth of Alibaba, and WeDoctor of Tencent all offer free consultations for those who think they might have pneumonia symptoms. Although most of the platforms’ doctors work part time, they manage to handle millions of patients a day. 

Experts at the Hospital Authority and IT wunderkinds in the city should work together to study the practicality of online consultation platforms. They can also learn from their mainland counterparts how to boost the effectiveness of treating patients, especially when facing infectious diseases.