Open the chat software, show the tongue coating, check the color, ask the symptoms through the online video or photo, and then dispense the medicine ... This has become the daily work of many British TCM physicians.

"It is rarely as busy as it is now. The number of consultations on the treatment of COVID-19 has increased from dozens per day at the beginning of the outbreak to nearly a hundred now. The demand for TCM is now 5 to 10 times higher than usual. Wang Tianjun, chairman of the British TCM Forum and founder of the British TCM Alliance Network, said.

After the epidemic broke out in the UK, dozens of qualified TCM physicians of the British TCM Alliance Network launched a TCM anti-epidemic assistance activity in the UK. At the beginning, this activity mainly served Chinese, and now the proportion of locals' consultations is increasing.

At present, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the UK has exceeded 50,000. As the epidemic becomes more and more serious, more and more British people hope to fight the epidemic through TCM, which makes the local TCM physicians who are asking for online consultation and sending TCM drugs busy.

According to Professor Ke Songxuan, a professor at Middlesex University and an academician of the Royal College of Medicine, the number of local people who have contacted him has increased since the British government announced the "group immune" therapy. Especially after the recent epidemic has become more severe, the number of people asking for consultation has increased significantly. Among the interviewers, some people are mild patients, and more people are not infected with COVID-19 but hope to improve immunity through TCM. "Because the demand is too large, some TCM drugs may be out of stock after a week or two." Ke Songxuan said.

British TCM physician Li Lihua's TCM store has been open for almost 20 years. In the half-month since March 9, the store's Facebook-related consultations on TCM increased by about 70,000.

British Natasha has been exposed to acupuncture and TCM for three years. She is convinced of the effectiveness of TCM in treating diseases. Two days ago, she specifically asked TCM practitioners to prescribe anti-epidemic TCM drugs for herself. "There are currently no effective symptomatic drugs, and improving immunity is the key." Natasha said.

Talking about why the British people are so enthusiastic about TCM, the local interviewed TCM practitioners believe that, in addition to TCM has shown anti-epidemic effects in China and some countries, the government has no time to take care of mild patients under the limited resources of the British national health system Most of them are required to be isolated at home, and even get help for disease consultation. Improving immunity with TCM has become the choice of many locals.

The development of TCM in the UK has a certain history. At its peak, there were thousands of TCM clinics or shops in Britain. Later, due to the implementation of the traditional herbal products decree in the EU and the tightening of relevant policies in the United Kingdom, the export of TCM patent medicines to the United Kingdom was restricted, and the development of TCM in the local area was also hindered.

"The British medical and health system itself has the practice of using herbal medicine to suppress cold viruses." Zhu Liangwei, a member of the Royal Medical Association and Cambridge University Hospital, said that under the current situation of COVID-19, the British national medical and health system is preventing and treating various measures have adopted the method of integrated TCM and Western medicine in a subtle way. For example, British health doctors often recommend that patients take lemon and dried wolfberry to improve body immunity.

The local TCM physicians interviewed said that TCM performed well in the fight against the epidemic, and could take the opportunity to promote the development of TCM in the UK. They suggest that you can try to make TCM into tea bags, granules, beverages, etc., to make TCM more in line with the drinking habits of the British. They also suggested that TCM should implement foreign standards from the beginning of production and rely on advanced technology to strictly regulate usage and dosage.

"Facts have proved that positive prevention is more important than rescue afterwards. I hope TCM will become the choice of more people." Natasha is looking forward to the development of TCM in the UK.

                                  Translated by Liu Wenlong