In China, much of the primary healthcare activities related to long term management of chronic diseases (eg, diabetes, hypertension, and ischaemic heart disease) is mainly undertaken through hospitals.15 During the outbreak, access to essential lifesaving drugs such as insulin, and acute procedures such as stenting, or the ability to monitor and manage major diseases and associated risk factors (eg, blood pressure, blood glucose levels) through hospital visits was severely compromised, leading to an exacerbation of established diseases and an increased risk of deaths (eg, diabetic crisis). Here, INS is linked to diabetes mellitus.