Malaysian scientists have have made a robot to attend to coronavirus patients.
The barrel-shaped robot on wheels is called a Medibot, and it will make the rounds in hospital wards to check the infected and reduce health workers’ risk of infection.
The Medibot is 1.5 meters tall (five feet) and is white in color. It is equipped with a camera and screen.
Patients can communicate remotely with medics through the robot. It is also fitted with a device to check patients’ temperatures.
The Medibot cost about 15,000 ringgit ($5,500) to make by the scientists at the International Islamic University, Malaysia.
The new creation will help doctors and nurses with social distancing and the university plans to start trials soon in its hospital with no virus patients.
If the trials are successful, the Medibot will be moved into hospitals handling COVID-19 patients.
There have been 4,683 cases of coronavirus in Malaysia, with 76 deaths.
