Kenya is set to take its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic a notch higher with help from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Japanese government.
The two bodies have delivered three multi-functional robots to the Kenyan government which will intensify the fight against the pandemic in the country.
The three robots, dubbed Roborafiki, have been named Tumaini, Jasiri and Shujaa.
They will perform similar functions to the ones frontline health care workers provide. These include; disinfecting contaminated areas, performing temperature checks and issuing timely reminders to citizens to sanitize, wear masks and maintain social distance.
Read: Rwanda to Use Robots in the Fight Against COVID-19
“COVID-19 has shown us that disease does not respect national boundaries. Today, as we deploy the Robots, we shall be a step ahead in combating the virus,” Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mutahi Kagwe said.
According to the UNDP, the robots can perform temperature checks for 100 people per minute from a 2.5- 3.5 metre distance. This will help eliminate scenarios where frontline workers get infected due to the close contact when performing similar functions.
The robots, manufactured in China by UBTECH, are also programmed to collect patient information, analyze data and provide statistics instantly for research purposes.
Read also: Here’s How The Gov’t Has Spent Ksh1.3 Billion From World Bank To Fight Covid-19
Last year, Rwanda imported five robots to help in the fight against the pandemic in the country.
A twitter post on Rwanda Biomedical Centre’s official handle explained that the robots will screen temperature, monitor status and keep medical records of patients.
Besides being used in treatment centres, the robots were deployed for use in public places such as bus stops and entrances to shopping malls.
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