500% spike in online medical consultation under lockdown: Practo report

50 million Indians used telemedicine, 62 per cent of psychiatry consultation was sought by youngsters in the age group of 21-30 years

People have been switching to online for medical consultation, with healthcare infrastructure in India coming under immense pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic. There has been a 500 per cent growth in online medical consultations between March-May 2020, healthcare aggregator Practo said in a report.

While 50 million Indians accessed healthcare through telemedicine during the lockdown period, 80 per cent of all users were first-timers.

The report titled, "How India accessed healthcare", points out that 67 per cent of the consultations resulted in in-person visits by doctors.