Samsung is donating 2,000 glove-friendly phones to NHS workers

Samsung announced today that it will donate 2,000 devices to the U.K. National Health Service’s Nightingale Hospitals, as well as provide them with UV phone sanitising machines. With the coronavirus pandemic currently stretching healthcare systems to their limits, hospital staff could use all the help they can get.

“Healthcare workers are working tirelessly to protect our nation at its time of greatest need,” said a Samsung U.K. press release. “This is why we have developed a series of measures to ensure these individuals are able to defy the barriers they are faced with, day in and day out.”

The BBC reports the devices Samsung is providing are Galaxy XCover 4s phones, designed to be robust and capable of being operated while using gloves. Staff will be able to sterilise them as well, with Samsung installing at least 35 UV phone sanitising machines in the hospitals.

“However small the comfort may be, we hope that technology can alleviate some of the anguish this pandemic is inflicting on those most impacted,” Francis Chun, chief executive of Samsung U.K. and Ireland, told the BBC.

Samsung has also said it will operate a dedicated Samsung support channel for NHS staff, as well as a free doorstep phone repair service in conjunction with WeFix. It will further provide free digital advertising for public health announcements, give priority to NHS workers when it comes to receiving devices, and offer said staff discounted rates. 

According to the BBC, NHS England has already ordered 20,000 phones and tablets from Samsung at cost price.

The U.K. currently has the eighth highest coronavirus infection count in the world, with over 55,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 6,000 deaths. There are over 1.3 million confirmed cases worldwide, including nearly 80,000 deaths.