How 5G technology will help us to manage the global health crises of the future

In many cases, history has shown how crises, whatever their nature, often exponentially accelerate the process of adopting new technologies. The rapid spread of danger and the widespread feeling of urgency allow to overcome many of the fears about their introduction into daily life. The intervention of the State itself in the management of the emergency, which becomes progressively more pervasive, can favor, if not even impose, their adoption. In many cases, once the threat has been eliminated, these technologies remain present in the daily life of society, which in the meantime has had the opportunity to test their contraindications, understand their potential and become familiar with them. During the most acute phases of the COVID-19 epidemic, even before the World Health Organization called it a real pandemic, the Chinese government gave a huge boost to the extension of the 5G telematic infrastructure, promoting its application to the healthcare sector, as well as large-scale testing of the applications connected to it. This with particular focus on the areas most severely affected by the virus. In March, the main TLC companies active in the Chinese province of Hubei, at the epicenter of the infection, provided their support for the construction of 5G stations and antennas within the complex that houses the Wuhan Vulcan Mountain Hospital. This is the well-known hospital that was built in just seven days to increase hospitalization and contagion management capabilities in the city of Wuhan, modeled on the Xiaotangshan hospital in Beijing. In addition, the companies have also set up special protection teams, capable of monitoring the security of the networks and the real-time operation of the entire digital architecture. This stimulus is the result of a decision taken by the Central Government on March 4 when, during a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, was proposed the creation of new 5G networks and data centers in the most endangered areas of the country.