Rwanda government takes delivery of robots that can screen ‘150 people per minute’ for Coronavirus (photos)

Robots are now part of Rwanda’s fight against COVID-19 and will help minimize the risk of infections among health care workers, authorities said on Tuesday.

Five anti-epidemic robots – named Akazuba, Ikirezi, Mwiza, Ngabo, and Urumuri – will be mainly used to administer temperature checks, monitor patient status, and keep medical records of COVID-19 patients, the Health Ministry announced in a series of tweets.

These high-tech robots have the capacity to screen 50 to 150 people per minute, deliver food and medication to patient rooms, capture data and notify officers on duty about detected abnormalities, the ministry said.

Health Minister Ngamije Daniel said the robots will fasten service delivery and help protect the lives of valuable health workers.

Medics and other frontline workers visit patients’ rooms many times to deliver medication, meals, carry out tests, among other things – and this may increase their risk of contracting the virus, he was quoted as saying by local daily The New Times.

The robots are the result of joint efforts by the Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).