The Ministry of Health is working with Military Telecom Industry Group (Viettel) to develop an app on mobile phones to help people know how to prevent the new coronavirus, Cafef.vn quoted Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long as saying at a press conference on February 5.

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Long said this app will help people assess their risk of infection, take self protection measures as well as contact health stations.

"In a few days, this app will be completed and put into use. Through the app, health workers will find it easier to support the people in assessing the risk of infection," said the deputy minister.

He added that people’s calls to the heath ministry’s emergency lines are mostly to inquire about the disease situation as well as signs, symptoms and prevention measures. The app will provide the most accurate information, avoid fake news and help ease people’s confusion during the nCoV epidemic.

For the past three days, traffic to Ministry of Health’s official website has increased sharply. There have been about 43,000 calls to the ministry’s hotlines to ask how to prevent on respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus, Long said.