March 20 2020: Huawei in collaboration with Deloitte has published a whitepaper titled "Combating COVID-19 with 5G: Opportunities to improve public health systems.”
The whitepaper lists learnings from the COVID-19 issue in China, analysing use of technology for control and treatment methods. 5G technology played an active role in the prevention and control of this epidemic in China. Telecommunications operators collaborated with Huawei to rapidly set up a specific 5G network dedicated to COVID-19 treatment hospitals
The report discusses key features of 5G such as high speed, connection, large arrays of connection points, low latency and expansive data bandwidth and how it can synergize with big data, AI, and Cloud to enhance the effectiveness of pandemic prevention and treatment, and drive the digital transformation of healthcare systems in response to major public emergencies.
The recent incident in China has helped demonstrate the role that 5G can play in epidemic control. Here is how 5G can address the problem:
5G+ thermal imaging supports contagion monitoring- It can accurately monitor a moving object's temperatures in real-time without contact and, issue abnormal temperature alerts
5G enables continuous remote monitoring and diagnosis during patient transfer
5G remote platforms to improve consultation effectiveness and efficiency- The ideal technology to meet teleconferencing requirements to enable medical experts to treat patients without constraints on their physical location, and substantially improve the accuracy and efficiency of consultations
5G remote imaging diagnosis platforms enhance collaboration
5G SMART medical robots to help care for quarantined patient
The success of 5G applications in the public health domain could also inspire businesses in other sectors to leverage 5G's popularity and explore new applications of the technology. This demonstrates the new business models that industries can consider:
Epidemic monitoring platform- 5Gs s high-speed data transmission and advanced data analytics can consolidate large amounts of fragmented information and can improve monitoring accuracy and efficiency, and reduce heavy manual work
- 5G epidemic prevention patrol drone
- 5G smart robots
- Smart City connected platform model
Natural disaster command centres- Natural disaster response can be equipped with 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) networks, enabling deep analysis of supply chains and providing real time information on front-line supply consumption, resource inventory levels, production capability, supply capability and logistics support decisions to balance supply and demand
Remote medical consultation- 5G networks can extend medical consultation into the community and even to individual households, enabling interaction between patients and doctors