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Alibaba Health offers free online medical consultation to overseas Chinese as coronavirus circles the globe

  • The doctors available for consultation work at public hospitals in China and have received training for the diagnosis and treatment of the coronavirus

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Tourists wearing masks seen in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, Japan, March 5, 2020. Overseas Chinese can use AliPay to get free online consultations with doctors in mainland China. Photo: EPA-EFE

Alibaba Health, the health care flagship of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, has joined with its affiliate Alipay to offer overseas Chinese free online medical consultation as the number of coronavirus cases continues to mushroom all over the world.

Using the Alipay app, overseas Chinese can get in touch with doctors in mainland China for free health care consultations from 8:30am to midnight, the Hong Kong-listed company announced on Sunday on its official account on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

The service was also recommended by Chinese embassies in Italy and Japan, which said in separate official statements that the coronavirus outbreak in the two countries has posed a major health risks for Chinese living or travelling there.

According to information on the websites of the two embassies, the doctors available for consultation via the platform work at public hospitals in China and have received training for the diagnosis and treatment of the novel coronavirus.

Alipay is operated by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post. 

Starting in China, the coronavirus has become a global health crisis with more than 100,000 confirmed cases in over 100 countries or territories as of Monday, according to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

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