15 MILLION CASES! Globally, we are reaching that mark in the total Covid-19 cases. By the time this is up, it would have surpassed 15 million cases worldwide. Worst of all, there are no signs indicating that this virus is slowing down.
Image source via Our Data In World
Pharmaceutical companies around the world are racing to get a vaccine or a cure out on the market. We will have to do our part. We, humans, would need all the help we could get. Luckily, the robots are here. These robots are lighting the way for us – UV light.
Image source via Giphy.com/PacificRim
In a video posted by South China Morning Post, robots equipped with UV light have been disinfecting hospitals in the epicentre of this pandemic – Wuhan in February.
Image source via South China Morning Post
Image source via South China Morning Post
The robots, designed by a university in Hangzhou, are used to disinfect the CT scanners. These scanners are being used to diagnose Coronavirus patients. The disinfecting process takes 3 minutes to complete and hence more people to be diagnosed daily.
Singapore’s PBA Group has also taken this approach to disinfect shopping malls. Powerful ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light emitted helps to decontaminate the surrounding it. UV-C, though harmful to humans, kills viruses by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA.
Image source via Youtube.com/StraitsTimesOnline
Image source via Youtube.com/StraitsTimesOnline
"This is just the start. PBA will have a family of robots for commercial spaces, on top of hospitals, transport, supermarkets, and shopping malls. Eventually, we will be getting the robot into homes," the group's chief executive Derrick Yap told Strait Times last Thursday.
While in Bahrain, Fab Lab Bahrain has built a prototype robot in its fight again Covid-19. The prototype was designed in collaboration with the country's Ministry of Youth and Sports Innovation Center.
Image source via Saudi Gazette
Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at University of East Anglia, told Saudi Gazette, “Given the nature of coronaviruses we would expect them to be especially sensitive to disinfection by either hypochlorite (bleach) or UV light.”
Image source via Saudi Gazette
This is not the only way robots are contributing to this pandemic. Robots are also used to take coronavirus swabs and even enforcing social distance restrictions just to name a few.
One thing for sure, robots are here to stay but they will not replace people. Rather, they help in performing tasks that human could not do safely. The fight against Coronavirus is not ending anytime soon. We must all stay vigilant and do our part. STAY SAFE!
Cover photo via Saudi Gazette
