Rwanda deploys hi-tech robots in fight against Covid-19

Kigali – Rwanda has deployed five hi-tech robots for use at hospitals to help control the spread of the novel coronavirus in the small East African nation.

The robots, which are outfitted with speech recognition technology, can perform various tasks, including temperature screening, delivering food and medication to patients, capturing data and detecting if people don’t wear masks.

“These robots will reduce the risk of exposure to Covid-19 among health workers and facilitate the transition from paper-based patient files to digital records,” Sabin Nsanzimana, director general of the Rwanda Biomedical Center, told dpa on Wednesday.

The robots, which cost 3,300 dollars each, have been designed by Belgian robotics company Zora Bots and been purchased by Rwanda’s health ministry with support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Rwanda, known to be at the forefront of technological innovation in Africa, has only recorded 320 cases of Covid-19 so far and no deaths, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control.