Dubai, Apr 14 (IANS): The Indian Consulate in Dubai has started offering telemedicine service related to the novel coronavirus for Indian nationals living in the United Arab Emirates, a media report said.

"Starting from today, April 13, Indian Consulate in Dubai is starting telemedicine consultation and counselling for Indian nationals from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. related to COVID-19...," the mission posted on Twitter on Monday.

Neeraj Agrawal, consul for Press, Information and Culture told Gulf News that the calls received will be passed on to qualified doctors who can answer the queries and address the concerns of the callers.

He said there was a huge demand for the service within a short time after it was announced.

In fact, the consulate had to put out another tweet within an hour about heavy traffic causing delays in transferring calls to the doctors.

On April 11, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor told Gulf News that the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi had started providing psychological counselling to community members, who have tested positive or are living with those tested positive.

"It is being done through a panel of doctors provided for the voluntary service by Indian healthcare groups. If needed, the service will be extended to other Emirates," the ambassador had said.