The new hospitals where Samsung Smart Healthcare centers are located are in cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Indore, Keylong, Akola, Jamnagar, Shimla, and Palakkad, among others. This addition takes the number of hospitals in the country covered under this citizenship program to 142.

In the last year alone, Samsung ramped up the program to add 56 new Samsung Smart Healthcare centres in hospitals across 19 states, contributing to Covid management. This included 15 Smart Healthcare centres in the last two months.

Samsung Smart Healthcare centres are equipped with modern Digital X-ray and Digital Ultrasound machines made by Samsung.

Samsung’s innovative Digital X-ray machines are being utilized for faster Covid-19 diagnosis at these government hospitals. Feedback from hospitals indicates that these Digital X-ray machines, which are portable, are extensively being used for in-room diagnosis of patients.

The Digital X-ray machines have also helped government hospitals improve efficiency and increase diagnostic capacities, as the output from these machines can be monitored by doctors directly on a computer screen, doing away with physical X-ray films. The output provided to doctors is of very high quality, helping them make quicker and better diagnoses.

“Samsung Smart Healthcare program supports the government’s efforts to benefit communities with limited access to quality healthcare. With these new centres, we now have our healthcare equipment in 142 government hospitals across India. We salute the Covid Warriors who have been working tirelessly over the last year to help people. Our Digital X-ray machines have been able to help them offer faster Covid-19 diagnosis at this time of need,” Partha Ghosh, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship, Samsung India, said.

Patients from economically and socially weaker sections of society have benefitted from the Samsung Smart Healthcare program. Doctors, technicians and radiologists are also trained to handle state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and software.

As part of its citizenship initiatives, Samsung has pledged USD 5 million (INR 37 crores) as its contribution to India’s fight against the current surge of Covid-19, providing donations to central and state governments, and boosting the healthcare sector with essential medical equipment for hospitals. Of this, Samsung has donated USD 3 million to the Centre as well as to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and is providing USD 2 million worth of medical supplies, including 100 Oxygen Concentrators, 3,000 Oxygen Cylinders and one million LDS syringes to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

LDS or Low Dead Space syringes minimize the amount of drug left in the device after injection, optimizing vaccine usage. Existing products have a large amount of the vaccine remaining in the syringe after use. The technology has demonstrated up to 20% greater efficiency and if existing syringes were to deliver one million doses, LDS syringes could deliver 1.2 million doses with the same amount of vaccine. Samsung has helped the manufacturer of these syringes increase production capacity.

Samsung India has got the ball rolling on vaccinating over 50,000 employees, adding a shot in the arm for India’s united fight against Covid.

This week, on-site vaccination camps were organised for employees at the Company’s Southwest Asia headquarters at Two Horizon Centre in Gurugram, at SRI-Noida, one of Samsung’s three R&D centers in the country, at Samsung Opera House in Bengaluru, the world’s largest mobile experience center and several branch offices around the country. A vaccination camp was also organised at the Sriperumbudur factory, near Chennai.

Employees came to the vaccination sites with great enthusiasm, with the Company ensuring strict Covid protocols and appropriate Covid behaviour. In some locations such as the Gurugram RHQ, family members of the employees also joined the vaccination programme. More vaccination drives have been planned over the next few weeks across cities.

As part its people welfare initiatives, Samsung will cover the vaccination costs for over 50,000 eligible employees and beneficiaries in India. This will also include all Samsung Experience Consultants (store promoters), who work at electronics retail stores across the country.

This is in addition to Samsung India’s CSR initiatives, announced last month, which included Covid care support through oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders and innovative Low Dead Space syringes, and donations to the Centre and state governments to support their own Covid care programmes.

“I am very happy to see the enthusiasm of our employees in the vaccination program and contributing to this fight against Covid. At Samsung, we are driven by the idea that a company is its people. Post Covid-19, Samsung India has taken several initiatives for employees and their families, which includes medical care, home assistance as well as mental wellness support. The vaccination drive will cover employees and some other beneficiaries and ensure their safety and wellbeing as nobody is safe till everyone is safe,” said Sameer Wadhawan, Senior Vice President & Head of Human Resources, Samsung India.

“It is a great feeling when you know that your employer will not only take care of you but your family as well,” says Indu Kapoor from the Consumer Electronics Division at Samsung India.

“It is a feeling of security when your employers care for you. I salute our HR colleagues who have throughout this pandemic, especially during the recent crisis, worked day and night to ensure that the employees could get the care they so much required in terms of oxygen, hospital beds, medicines, and even emotional support,” says Hasit Mankodi from the Customer Service team at Samsung India.

At Samsung, employee health, safety, and well-being are absolute priorities. To help employees and their families with information and access to medical supplies as well as hospital facilities and home-care, we have set up in-house facilities and teams across the country. Samsung has also offered medical care, home assistance, and mental wellness support by experts on personal loss, grief, vaccination myths, stress as well as pandemic fatigue.

To provide extensive medical care support, Samsung has partnered with Dhani Healthcare to provide employees with free online consultations at any time of the day with a year-long validity. Samsung is also running a home assistance program to support employees by sharing verified contacts for emergency services like hospitals, oxygen suppliers, chemists, blood banks, testing centers and ambulances.

In addition, employees have been assisted with health insurance top-up for Covid care and homecare treatment cost has been included in the group health insurance policy for employees and their dependents. Samsung is also providing a corporate health insurance buffer equal to the base policy amount for any employee in need.

While Prakash Manik Kanade lay on the bed in a small clinic in Nasik donating plasma, he could not ignore the wall to his left which had a scene from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, a brilliant collection of stories set in the forests of Pench in central India. In the scene, Mowgli is seen chatting with his adorable animal friends around him.

The Jungle Book was one of his favourites as a child, and he was reminded of the lines from the book “For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.”

Prakash is an area sales manager for Samsung India in Nashik. His family had just recovered from Covid in mid-March when an acquaintance asked him if he would donate plasma that another patient required. He and his family were hesitant, but after taking advise from doctors about there being no side effects, he was here in this clinic donating.

“These lines from the book kind of spoke to me. I thought I had to help the pack,” he says.

That is when Prakash decided to go beyond just donating plasma himself to motivating others as well.

When he joined many social media and instant messenger groups that were helping people, he figured there were many misconceptions about donating. He and a group of friends then worked to clarify those misconceptions, tying up with a local radio channel and with blood banks. Weeks later, the multiple instant messenger groups now have over 3,000 people who are eager to help.

Over the last month and a half, Prakash and his friends have got over 200 people to donate plasma, helping more than 300 patients with plasma when they needed it.

“I would get calls at 2 am from people who were standing outside a blood bank. The bank required them to come with a plasma donor in exchange for processed plasma. That is not always possible for caregivers of patients in need,” he says. This is where the tie-ups with blood banks helped.

“We would call the blood bank or its owner and tell them to provide the plasma in lieu of the donors they had sent earlier, and also a promise to send more donors soon.”

It clicked. “I was fortunate my family came out unscathed. I just wanted to help others,” he adds.

So when a Samsung employee’s friend who had recently moved to Nashik got infected, Prakash was there to help. Through the network he had built, he spread the word around and got an ICU bed for the employee’s friend who was critical.

Prakash helped the Covid positive family with food, arranged plasma for the husband, and called the wife multiple times a day to ensure she remained strong.

“Medical support is one thing, but what many require in such times is moral support. I wanted to assure her that she and her children were not alone in the city,” he says.

No wonder Prakash Manik Kanade has become the go-to person for the Samsung team and many others in the community in Nasik when anyone needs a hospital bed, medicines, oxygen or plasma.

Stories such as these inspire us at Samsung. Don’t we say, Do What You Can’t!

(Please note: Plasma donation should be done only at the advice of a certified medical practitioner)

As part of this support, Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore (SRI-B), the largest R&D centre of Samsung outside Korea, has collaborated with Shrimad Rajchandra Sarvamangal Trust (SRST) for donating Medical Kits to Government of Karnataka. These medical kits are prescribed by the Government of Karnataka and will be used by Covid patients in home isolation.

SRI-B has donated 14 Oxygen Concentrators to charitable hospitals working towards Covid-19 relief. These Oxygen Concentrators, which have been flown in from South Korea, will be used by patients from weaker sections of the society. Another 10 Oxygen Concentrators were handed over to the Government of Karnataka.

Samsung India Donates Medical Kit, Oxygen Concentrators and Oxygen Cylinders to the Govt. of Karnataka.  (J Manjunath, Deputy Commissioner [Centre], [L-R] Dr Srinivasa, DHO , Dr Manohar, DSO, Dr Mahesh, DTO, Dr Chandrashekar, THO)

In addition to the aid for Karnataka, Samsung had earlier pledged USD 5 million (INR 37 crores) to India’s fight against Covid-19, providing donations to central and state governments, and boosting the healthcare sector with essential medical equipment for hospitals including 100 Oxygen Concentrators, 3,000 Oxygen Cylinders and one million LDS syringes.

At Samsung, employee health, safety and well-being is of utmost priority. As part of its people’s initiative, Samsung has also announced it will cover the vaccination costs for over 50,000 eligible employees and beneficiaries in India.

SRI-B has extended end-to-end Covid care to its employees, providing tele-consultation with doctors, RT-PCR tests, home packages with remote medical care, food and medical kit for people staying alone, paid time off for recovery, ambulance on call, Covid Care Centre for isolation and hospitalization, if required.

The decisions have been taken after due consultations with various stakeholders in India and assessing the immediate needs of local administrations.

Samsung will donate USD 3 million to the Centre as well as to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

In addition, to help the healthcare system that has been stretched over the last few weeks, Samsung will provide USD 2 million worth of medical supplies, including 100 Oxygen Concentrators, 3,000 Oxygen Cylinders and one million LDS syringes. These will be offered to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

LDS or Low Dead Space syringes minimize the amount of drug left in the device after injection, optimizing vaccine usage. Existing products have a large amount of the vaccine remaining in the syringe after use. The technology has demonstrated up to 20% greater efficiency and if existing syringes were to deliver one million doses, LDS syringes could deliver 1.2 million doses with the same amount of vaccine. Samsung has helped the manufacturer of these syringes increase production capacity.

Additionally, as part of its people initiative, Samsung will cover the vaccination costs for over 50,000 eligible employees and beneficiaries in India, with an aim to safeguard their lives, as vaccine doses become available. This will also include all Samsung Experience Consultants, who work at electronics retail stores across the country.

At Samsung, employee health, safety and well-being are our absolute priority. To help employees and their families with information and access to medical supplies as well as hospital facilities and home-care, we have set up in-house facilities and teams across the country.

In April 2020, Samsung had contributed INR 20 crore to India’s fight against the pandemic. This included a donation to the Central government and support to local administration in Noida, where the Company had provided hospitals with medical equipment required in the preventive drive against the pandemic such as thousands of Preventive Masks and Personal Preventive Equipment (PPE) kits.

Samsung salutes all professionals working tirelessly on the frontline of this battle. The Samsung family, which includes our employees across India and our partners and their employees, stand together in this battle against Covid-19.

In addition to this, Samsung has also supported the local administration and community in Gautam Budh Nagar by providing hospitals with medical equipment required in the preventive drive against the pandemic. Samsung has provided 10,000 Preventive Masks and 6,000 Personal Preventive Equipment (PPE) kits to hospitals. PPE kits are an essential preventive healthcare utility and each kit includes: Surgeon Gown, Face Mask, Gloves, Preventive Eye wear, Hood Cap and Shoe Cover. The Company has also provided a large number of Infra-red Thermometers and Public Address systems as well as 300 Air Purifiers to help improve ambient air quality in medical facilities.

Samsung also supported the local administration and local police in Noida in providing food packets to local communities.

The UP Government will utilize these funds for Covid-19 related relief, containment and preventive measures to combat the pandemic in the state.

Samsung has earmarked INR 20 crore to support the Central government as well as State governments in their fight against the pandemic. It recently contributed INR 15 crore to the PM CARES Fund. Samsung employees from across India also raised a voluntarily contribution of INR 1 crore from their salaries for the PM CARES Fund.

Shri Siddharth Nath Singh, Cabinet Minister Investments, Exports and MSME, Government of Uttar Pradesh said: “Government of Uttar Pradesh is grateful to Samsung for their generous contribution of Rs 2 Crores to the UP State Disaster Management Authority during the Covid-19 crisis. Samsung is our valuable partner and together we are committed to building UP into a world class global electronic hub”.

“Corporates have an important role in supporting governments and community during crises such as the one we are facing right now. We worked closely with local authorities in Uttar Pradesh to do an in-depth need assessment to understand how Samsung can contribute meaningfully. We were also able to support local communities around our manufacturing unit in Noida. Our contribution to the Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority is a part of that commitment,” said Peter Rhee, Corporate Vice President, Samsung India.

Samsung, India’s most trusted brand, and the country’s biggest consumer electronics and smartphone maker has been a strong partner to Uttar Pradesh over the years, having set up its first manufacturing plant in the country in 1996, at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. This factory has grown over the last 24 years, and was transformed into the World’s Largest Mobile Factory in 2018.

This contribution, voluntarily raised by the employees from their individual salaries, is over and above the INR 20 crore donation made by the Company to the PM CARES Fund and other state funds, as part of the commitment to the country’s battle against Covid-19.

Samsung, India’s most trusted brand, and the country’s biggest consumer electronics and smartphone maker, is also one of the country’s largest employers. The Company started operations in India in 1995, and has remained a flag-bearer of ‘Make in India’ since then, with two factories-in Noida and Sriperumbudur, near Chennai-three R&D Centers and one Design Center, with 200,000 partner retail stores across the country. The Company’s Noida factory is the largest mobile factory in the World and India’s largest mobile phone exporter. Almost every Samsung device sold in India is made in India, by Indian employees.

Samsung believes in the philosophy of ‘Make in India, Make for India and Make for the World’.

The voluntary contribution by the employees is a testament to the same commitment, and takes roots in the Samsung values of People and Co-prosperity, among the other values such as Excellence, Change and Integrity.

The Company remains committed to assist the local communities in these trying times, and beyond, through various citizenship initiatives. In the last two months, Samsung India has provided hospitals in Noida with medical equipment required in the preventive drive against the pandemic. This includes thousands of Preventive Masks and Personal Preventive Equipment (PPE) kits: Surgeon Gowns, Face Masks, Gloves, Preventive Eye wear, Hood Cap and Shoe Covers. The Company has also equipped hospitals and at other healthcare facilities with a large number of Infra-red Thermometers and Public Address systems. Along with these, Air Purifiers that are vital to improve the ambient air quality in medical facilities, have also been provided.

In Noida, and in two districts of in Tamil Nadu, Samsung has also supported the local administration, local police and migrant workers with daily essentials such as food packets and grocery.

Deliveries of Digital X-ray and Digital Ultrasound machines that Samsung provides to government hospitals as part of its Samsung Smart Healthcare citizenship program were also hastened. The most recent deliveries of the equipment have been to hospitals in Noida, Rajkot and Pune that have been designated as Covid-19 facilities. The Samsung Digital X-ray and Digital Ultrasound machines have aided in quick diagnostics.

Samsung customers can also carry out hassle-free transfer to the PM CARES Fund directly from their Galaxy smartphones by clicking on the PM CARES Fund option on the Samsung Pay application.

The Company also handed over grocery packets to the authorities for distribution amongst thousands of distressed migrant and non-regular workers in the districts of Kanchipuram and Cuddalore.

The state’s Disaster Management Authority will be utilizing the funds to procure Personal Preventive Equipment (PPE) kits, ventilators and medical consumables, creation of quarantine, isolation facilities and public healthcare infrastructure; and towards supplying ration to migrant labour and the homeless in the state of Tamil Nadu.

In addition, the grocery packets that were handed over today will help thousands of migrant and non-regular workers in Kanchipuram and Cuddalore districts to manage their daily requirements for approximately two weeks.

Samsung has earmarked INR 20 crore to support the Central government as well as state governments in their fight against the pandemic. It has recently contributed of INR 15 crore to the PM CARES Fund.

Thiru MC Sampath, Minister for Industries, Tamil Nadu said: “Tamil Nadu government welcomes the contribution from Samsung India in our fight against this pandemic. This will go a long way in fulfilling that vision and strengthen our bonds with the Company which has a large manufacturing unit in Sriperumbudur.”

“Corporates have an important role in supporting governments and community during crises such as the one we are facing right now. In Tamil Nadu, while we continue to support the community around our manufacturing unit in Sriperumbudur, we also engaged with local authorities to understand how Samsung can contribute meaningfully. Our contribution to the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority is a part of that commitment,” said Peter Rhee, Corporate Vice President, Samsung India.

In addition, Samsung employees across India are putting together their personal contribution. The Company will match the employee contribution and donate the total amount to the PM Cares Fund in the coming weeks.

These new measures come on the back of Samsung’s support to local administrations and communities, providing hospitals with medical equipment required in the preventive drive against the pandemic. So far Samsung has provided thousands of Preventive Masks and Personal Preventive Equipment (PPE) kits to hospitals. PPE kits are an essential preventive healthcare utility and each kit includes: Surgeon Gown, Face Mask, Gloves, Preventive Eye wear, Hood Cap and Shoe Cover.

Over the last few weeks, as part of its citizenship program Samsung Smart Healthcare, Samsung has hastened deliveries of Digital X-ray and Ultrasound machines to government hospitals. The most recent deliveries of the equipment have been to hospitals in Noida, Rajkot and Pune that have been designated as Covid-19 facilities. The Samsung Digital X-ray and Digital Ultrasound machines will aid in quick diagnostics.

Samsung salutes all professionals working tirelessly on the frontline of this battle.

You too may have hummed your favourite movie song or counted from one to twenty when it all began. But as the days pass by, maybe you are becoming forgetful, and not washing your hands as regularly, and as well, as you should.

The World Health Organization has recommended frequent washing of hands among a slew of other measures to halt the spread of Covid-19. Hand wash is considered effective only when it lasts for full 20 seconds, according to healthcare professionals.

To make things easy, a small group of designers and developers from Samsung Research Institute-Bangalore, or SRI-B’s UX and wearable teams, worked round-the-clock over the last two weeks to come up with a solution that helps you keep healthy and safe.

Accordingly, SRI-B employees – mostly working remotely from their homes – built the ‘Hand Wash’ app – a wearable app for Galaxy Watch that prompts users to clean their hands, a key preventive attribute to stay safe.

The ‘Hand Wash’ app on Galaxy Watch helps users maintain hand hygiene by periodically reminding them about it and ensuring each wash is thorough for the duration of 20 seconds in line with WHO recommended best practices. The app comes with preset reminders which users can customize further based on their needs and schedule.

Also, each time the user initiates the wash sequence, the ‘Hand Wash’ app tracks the time and provides users with haptic feedback after 25 seconds of wash cycle. Five seconds are for turning on the tap and applying soap, while 20 seconds are for actual hand wash. The ‘Hand Wash’ app also notifies users if they miss any of scheduled pit stops to the wash basin!

The ‘Hand Wash’ app allows users to track their daily wash trends to build healthy habit over a period. The ‘Hand Wash’ app is further complimented by elegant watch face, which allows users to intuitively track their daily wash routine. Moreover, the watch face also shows the elapsed time since last wash to give users a sense of alertness about their hygiene in real time.

Galaxy Watch users can download the ‘Hand Wash’ app from the Galaxy Store.

We would love to hear your experience of using the ‘Hand Wash’ app. Your feedback will help us make the app better to help more users stay healthy and safe.

After all, when it comes to our health, prevention is always better than cure!

For one, I am now able to take time out for my passions – photography and music. That has helped me clear my mind, and think like never before, of course aided by the super fresh air that I get to breathe in my garden these days. With my dogs (14 of them).

Who wouldn’t want to write when your surroundings are blanketed in the wonders of Mother Nature, that too in Delhi. These days, my garden gets numerous visitors – pigeons (of course), parrots, and even peacocks!

With the world in an unfortunate lockdown, people are consuming more content, so there’s pressure to create more. The cool thing is that I’m managing to literally pen big articles. Many a times, I sit down to write an article on the laptop, and then switch to my phone so that I can roam around the house while I keep writing.

Since all my content is on a cloud, it’s easy for me to switch, and the large screen and precise haptic feedback on Galaxy S20 Ultra that I am using right now, is just perfect for writing. I am actually being more productive sometimes just using the phone as an idea goes from being a stream of consciousness to a fully fleshed editorial.

When I first entered the newsroom, I wasn’t an Android user. But then in 2011, the Galaxy SII happened to me, my first smartphone purchasedfrom my salary. The next was a Galaxy Nexus, despite it not being launched in India. Since then, Galaxy S has remained a big part of my growing up, personally and professionally.

However, smartphones aren’t my first memory of Samsung. My first memory is from the ‘90s at a shop in New Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar market. My dad had taken me along to buy a new TV and we ended up getting a Samsung TV which was used in the family till 2015. Since then, every TV that has been bought in my household has been a Samsung. That is long before I started my journey as a technology journalist in 2009.

Today, content isn’t limited to text. There are a lot of videos that we’ve been making at warpcore.live, but that was usually on a DSLR. At home, I gave it a shot on Galaxy S20 Plus, and the results have been amazing. I am shooting a lot of 4K videos, though it does help that the smartphone can shoot 8K as well.

The lockdown has given me time to do things I always wanted to, returning to old hobbies. I am a guitarist and I have taken this time to develop a DJ set. I tested it a couple of times and the feedback was rather encouraging.

I have also started to develop photography as a hobby. It is an extension of my job, as I am always clicking photographs while reviewing smartphones or cameras, but this time it is more deliberate. The capabilities of Galaxy S20 Plus and Galaxy S20 Ultra help me unlock my abilities. Using 50X zoom on Galaxy S20 Ultra, I can gaze at the Lotus Temple from my roof top.

My life is pretty normal but this lockdown can take its toll. New hobbies and new ways of working have helped me keep my sanity and productivity.

[Sahil Mohan Gupta is the Founder and Editor of warpcore.live and a Contributor to NewsX.com. He was formerly the India Editor for Gizmodo, PCMag and TechRadar. He wrote this piece at the request of Samsung Newsroom India]