Telehealth has become a central piece in patient healthcare delivery during ‎COVID-19 pandemic era. Telehealth allows health care services to reach patients in ‎their homes, keeping other patients safe through social distancing and ‎maintaining self-quarantine .
In this issue in Afro-Egyptian journal of Infectious and Endemic Diseases ; an ‎article titled" During the Era of Pandemic Corona Virus Disease 19, is ‎Telemedicine Effective in the ‎follow-up of Hepatitis C Virus Patients Receiving ‎Direct anti-Viral Therapy?" .The study included cross matched 300 patients ‎consulted for HCV treatment. 150 ‎patients were treated in 2019 and followed by ‎routine classic visits (routine classical ‎group). Another 150 patients were treated in ‎‎2020 and followed up via virtual visits by ‎telemedicine (telemedicine group)‎. There was no significant statistical difference between the two groups regarding the ‎‎sustained virological response (SVR) and the recorded side effects during ‎treatment ‎. The author concluded that use of telemedicine in the follow up of chronic HCV ‎patients during treatment is as ‎effective as the classic way and safer especially in the era of ‎pandemic COVID19‎‎.‎