Expert urges to fight virus with robots

TDT | Manama

An expert has urged for the use of robots to support the national efforts in tackling Coronavirus in the Kingdom.

Yaqoob Al Awadhi, CEO of ‘NGN’ Global Information Systems, said that the national plan to tackle Coronavirus has proven quite successful so far, although Bahrain has recorded the largest number of infected people among Arab countries. “There is no harm in considering the possibility of using robots to fight this virus, especially since the number of infections is increasing daily, and scenarios for eliminating it are not yet clear,” Mr Al Awadhi added.

He pointed out that the medical staff in Bahrain can cooperate with experts of the departments of information and communication technology to develop a quick plan for importing, programming and placing robots in the service of tackling coronavirus. In addition to that, the medical staff in the Kingdom, in co-operation with the managers and experts of the departments of information and communication technology could develop a quick plan for importing, programming and placing robots in the service of anti-virus efforts in Bahrain.

In this context, Mr Al Awadhi called to benefit from the Chinese experience, where robots are trained by the medical staff to provide treatment for quarantined patients and those who are infected. The robot is monitored by specialists via remote control, and it provides medicines to patients and measures their temperatures, plus providing doctors and patients with the most important medical information and precautions. “We saw robots roaming between patients’ rooms in Chinese hospitals to provide medical assistance to them, without any direct contact with the nurses, fear of transmitting the disease to them.

We can rely on robots to spread awareness of the Coronavirus as well, and to educate the people about the virus, its symptoms, and what should be done to prevent and reduces people’s concerns,” said Mr Al Awadhi. He emphasised that robot can be programmed to provide specific questions about common symptoms such as fever, and the person responds by pressing “yes” or “no” on a touch screen, then the person receives a reassuring message if his answer is no. He added that robots can also make phone calls with citizens asking whether they have interacted with a person infected with the Coronavirus or have symptoms of the disease, and robots can answer people’s questions and inquiries.

“Robots can also be relied upon for cleaning and disinfection tasks in public places, based on their ability to carry out the tasks intelligently and subjectively. “China also relied on drones to direct instructions to the population about wearing medical masks or warns then not to leave homes and other necessary advice, by broadcasting messages via those drones,” added Mr Al Awadhi. He said that Bahrain started benefiting from the robot in a small number of areas such as banks, and we can use this experience to developing the presence of robots in other sectors such as nursing homes and health sector facilities.