Tunisia hospital deploys robot that helps medical staff limit contact with COVID patients

In a first for Tunisia, medics have deployed a robot in the medical facility to limit contact between the healthcare workers and the patients of COVID-19. The single limbed machine mounted on wheels performed health screening functions like tests for the pulse, temperature checks, and the blood oxygen levels in the north African country. The robot, that reduced the exposure for the staff and other patients alike with the coronavirus, enables nurses and doctors to make virtual bedside visits. 

At the pulmonary department at the Abderrahmane Memmi hospital in Ariana, near the capital Tunis, a doctor named Nawel Besbes Chaouch reportedly said that the use of robotics and AI in the coronavirus battle reduced the risk of contaminating personnel at the medical centres. Also, the robot minimized the hospital staff’s contact with the patients that earlier posed risk their health, he added.

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The remote-controlled robot, not just reserves time-slots for visits, but also helps families to have a video conference with their loved ones in the wards on the screen, according to media reports. The audio-visual communication feature breaks the trend of the coronavirus patients suffering “in loneliness” confined in their wards without being able to contact the loved ones. A technology developed by the company named Enova, a start-up based in Sousse, Tunisia changed the coronavirus pandemic landscape in this hospital. Earlier, a few days ago, the Tunisia police deployed a similar robot to patrol streets to ensure that the lockdown measures were adhered to by the general public.

Robots shopping groceries

In Milton Keynes, an English town in the UK, a fleet of robots on wheels deliver shopping as the residents are confined to their homes during lockdown to stem the coronavirus pandemic. The popularity of the robots, which are about the height of the knee of an adult, and are white bodies on six wheels has surged in the town in recent weeks, the machines, however, have been delivering for over two years and are the usual sight on the road. 

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