Alibaba launches free online medical consultation to ease hospital pressure

HANGZHOU - China's internet giant Alibaba has launched free online medical consultation services in an effort to relieve hospital pressure amid the novel coronavirus spread.

Users can access the consultation service and view real-time epidemic data nationwide from the National Health Commission on Alibaba's online shopping platform Taobao or mobile payment app Alipay.

Hundreds of professional doctors from all over the country are providing services through the app, with more than 70 percent of them being respiratory and general practitioners, the company said.

As of 12:00 am Sunday, the service homepage received nearly 400,000 visits after being launched for 24 hours, with 97 percent of them from Central China's Hubei province, where the epidemic is most severe, according to data from service provider AliHealth.

More than 90 percent of the questions are focused on the prevention and treatment of the novel coronavirus and pneumonia, the data showed.