Doctors shift to virtual diagnosis of coronavirus in Chennai – Times of India

To minimise the spread of novel coronavirus, doctors in the city are moving from appointments to virtual consulting for foreign patients.
The number of overseas patients in several city hospitals came down on Thursday after the Union external affairs ministry cancelled most entry permits, including medical visas.
“Five patients from Bangladesh who had scheduled appointments with specialists cancelled it this morning. They could not even board the flights,” said Dr Ilankumaran K at Dr Rela Multispeciality Hospital in Chennai. “We have patients from several other countries cancelling their appointments. We have postponed all their appointments and elective surgeries,” he said.
At the MGM Hospitals, doctors said they were monitoring foreign patients virtually. “We are in touch with most patients on phone. We are virtually monitoring some who were planning to fly down for emergency surgeries,” said senior cardiac surgeon Dr K R Balakrishnan. Doctors are advising patients that the situation is likely to remain the same for about a fortnight.
In many other city hospitals, doctors are asking patients who are immunecompromised, particularly those with cancer or those who are taking immune suppression pills, to postpone travel or hospital visits by at least a fortnight.