Fear and confusion about the Coronavirus outbreak are sending citizens flocking to their general physicians and paediatricians.

With clinics flooded with patients and calls from those suffering from mild cough and cold, physicians have started taking online consultations and asking people not to visit clinics. The practice is prevalent in the slum pockets of Dharavi, Malwani, Kurla, etc. "People have become health conscious and are focussing on hygiene," said Dr Linus Rodrigues, a physician and diabetologist. "Earlier, people took medicines over the counter, but after the outbreak, they have started consulting general physicians even if they have a mild fever or cough. Nearly 90 per cent of patients coming to me ask about Coronavirus. I ask for their travel history or whether they have met any infected person in the recent past before asking them to get tested."