Rwandan government has sanctioned the arrival and use of humanoid robots as it looks to reduce contact between healthcare workers and Covid-19 patients while rendering medical services in state facilities to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country
The country has so far recorded 308 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 203 recoveries and no deaths.
The five robots which were named Akazuba, Ikizere, Mwiza, Ngabo and Urumuri, are manufactured by a Belgium-based company. They have the capacity to screen between 50 to 150 people per minute, capture both video and audio data.
Rwanda health minister, Daniel Ngamije made the announcement on Tuesday May 19, according to reports from the BBC.
According to him, these robots will assist in coronavirus screening, deliver food and drugs to patients, as well as act as video-conferencing links between patients and doctors. Their main purpose is to reduce health workers’ exposure to Covid-19.
Akazuba, Ikirezi, Mwiza, Ngabo and Urumuri will be mainly used in screening temperature , monitoring patient status and keeping medical records of #COVID-19 patients pic.twitter.com/PoSyZOXNxH
— Ministry of Health | Rwanda (@RwandaHealth) May 19, 2020
Akazuba, Ikirezi, Mwiza, Ngabo and Urumuri will be mainly used in screening temperature , monitoring patient status and keeping medical records of #COVIDー19 patients in #Rwanda treatment centres @UNDP_Rwanda @RwandaICT @RwandaHealth
— Rwanda Biomedical Centre (@RBCRwanda) May 19, 2020
Other unique abilities of the robots include recording and storing of patient data, alerting health workers to abnormalities and warning people who aren’t wearing masks or are wearing them improperly
He also added that more of the artificial intelligence machines will be needed for deployment in public places to carry out disinfection duties.
Photo Credit: Twitter
