HPE deploys cloud-enabled COVID-19 test labs and OPD centers in India

Self-contained, IoT-enabled, telemedicine-ready facilities will assist efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic across the country

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) today announced it has completed deployment of four COVID-19 Test Labs and four Outpatient Department (OPD) Centers across the country to assist the Government of India and state governments in their efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. These facilities have been established in order to provide additional authorized testing facilities and isolation beds to manage the increased demand across the country.

Donated as part of HPE’s commitment to India announced last July, the HPE COVID-19 Test Labs are designed to enable quick and clean testing of individuals who suspect they may have contracted COVID-19, and will be based on the specifications provided by the Ministry of Science & Technology. The Test Labs will be run and managed by the concerned government agency including installing testing equipment, deploying paramedics and technicians, providing broadband connectivity, PPEs and medical supplies.

“COVID -19 has thrown unprecedented challenges for the world and industries alike and we must actively implement various measures to help contain the virus. NASSCOM is working with the IT industry in formulating innovative solutions to combat the pandemic. Cloud-enabled HPE COVID-19 Test Labs and OPDs will enable authorities to refine their testing process and will significantly reduce the strain on existing healthcare facilities. We are confident that together we will be able to overcome this phase and emerge stronger post the crisis,” said Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge local communities across the world, we are responding with initiatives to support the communities where we live and work. The deployment of HPE COVID-19 Test Labs and OPD Centers will support the government’s efforts to prevent, detect and respond to COVID-19,” said Som Satsangi, MD – India, HPE.

Based on the successful HPE eHealth Centers (eHCs), HPE has developed and deployed these Test Labs and OPD Centers in 40-feet refurbished negative air pressure containers equipped with biometrics, blood pressure apparatus, spirometer, serum analyzer, pulse oxymeter, glucometer, pulse reader, and ECG. All this equipment will be integrated with EMR (Electronic Medical Record) applications, and an online dashboard will be provided to monitor the related OPDs. Additionally, suitable IT equipment will be provided, including workstations, headphones, thermal cameras, networking components, and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) systems.

The OPD Centers will handle walk-in patients and will have provisions to house six patients for 24 to 48 hours for observation purposes. It will have negative air pressure doors to ensure isolation and also serve as a temporary housing for people with COVID-19 symptoms until they are either discharged or are sent to the applicable wards for treatment.

To ensure the IT infrastructure at the Test Labs and OPD centers experience minimal downtime and any related issues can be rectified remotely without the need of an on-site engineer, the facilities are equipped with Aruba Cloud Managed Wireless solution along with Aruba User Experience Insight (UXI) Sensor. This will act as a virtual network admin onsite and will monitor all key applications proactively 24×7. In case of any issues, the HPE Network Operations Center (NOC) located at Chandigarh, will be able to detect and resolve problems before they are even noticed. The Aruba solution also offers zero touch provisioning, remote management and remote diagnosis thereby eliminating or limiting human interaction making it a best fit solution in response to COVID-19.

The HPE COVID-19 Test Labs and OPD Centers have been established across Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, and Dehradun.

HPE is committed to helping communities, customers, and partners during this time of global uncertainty. Earlier this month, at a worldwide level HPE Financial Services designated more than $2 billion in financing to help customers and partners with their financial challenges stemming from the COVID-19 crisis. HPE Foundation also set up a dollar-for-dollar matching campaign to provide HPE team members with the opportunity to make financial donations to support the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund that will help the World Health Organization’s efforts with global health institutions and health workers to prevent, detect and respond to COVID-19 and UNICEF’s global efforts to provide continuous education, healthcare, sanitation, and community engagement. To learn more about these initiatives please visit the HPE COVID-19 content hub.