ZTE Corporation and China Telecom have carried out what it claims is the first remote diagnosis of the new coronavirus in China, supported by the latest 5G technology, ZTE said in a statement.
The first cases of pneumonia-like virus were reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. Since then, the virus has spread to various other countries, including Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Australia, France and Taiwan, among others.
Given the situation on the ground, ZTE used its CPE equipment to deploy 5G services using outdoor 5G signals while building indoor coverage points. On January 25, indoor 5G base stations were built and interconnected, and the conference room for remote diagnosis and treatment at West China Hospital was the first to be connected to the remote diagnosis and treatment system.
On January 26, ZTE completed the construction, optimization, speed testing and commissioning of the indoor 5G distribution system at another central point of the remote diagnosis and treatment system. Once the 5G network was operational, the Sichuan Health Commission, West China Hospital and the Cheng Public Health Clinic Center conducted a remote video consultation.
In line with the working agreement of the Health Commission, the 5G remote consultation system will use West China Hospital of Sichuan University as its central node and will be the first batch to connect 27 hospitals that have accepted and treated patients. In the next phase, ZTE will build China’s first 5G-based remote coronavirus infection diagnosis system covering three levels: the province, city and county of Sichuan, in order to provide a single network for remote diagnosis in frontline hospitals. In the future, ZTE will conduct video consultations with the frontline medical rescue team in Wuhan via the 5G network, so that critically ill patients in Wuhan can also benefit from diagnosis and treatment services provided by experts at West China Hospital.
ZTE also announced that it is currently helping China Mobile build the network for Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, in order to strengthen the capacity to fight the new coronavirus.
After receiving the hospital site selection notifications, ZTE and China Mobile analyzed the current network situation. ZTE developed a network construction solution and arranged for technical staff to carry out on-site network expansion and construction on January 26.
In this project, a 5G network was also commissioned, which can be used to support telemedicine and improve the efficiency of patient treatment. In the future, capacity expansion and indoor 5G distribution will be carried out simultaneously with the construction of Leishenshan Hospital.
“In the battle against the Wuhan epidemic, ZTE has placed great importance on providing comprehensive supply chain support, communications support and on-site services. ZTE dispatched hundreds of professionals to support operators and urgently delivered spare parts for key Shenzhen equipment to ensure the safe and stable operation of the communication network,” ZTE said.
On Sunday, there were more than 2,700 confirmed cases and at least 80 deaths linked to the 2019-nCoV virus, according to The New York Times.
