Health CS Mutahi Kagwe on Friday received three smart anti-epidemic from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to boost Kenya government’s fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
The three robots named Shujaa, Jasiri and Tumaini are set to be deployed to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as well as Kenyatta National Hospital for more effective use.
The three smart robots are meant to to reduce contact between persons while helping to maintain social distance between high potential people, infection suspects and health workers.
“We will be deploying these robots to Kenyatta National Hospital where, as in Rwanda’s case they will reduce exposure of health workers to Covid-19 patients, and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where they will assist in temperature screening, disinfection, communication of health messages and data capture,” Kagwe said.
Here’s the story behind the naming: #Shujaa, #Tumaini & #Jasiri.
The pandemic has shown that rarely do we pay much thought to our frontline workers, but when the world shut down, due to???? they were the ones who literally held it together for us! @Walidbadawi @mmashologu1
???? https://t.co/EQPqV70ZSg pic.twitter.com/01cUzNbOF6— Ngele Ali (@NgeleAli) January 22, 2021Read More
They have wide-angle and long reach lenses and have the ability to measure temperatures of 10 to 100 people per minute at a distance of 2.5-3.5 metres hence saving on time and protecting frontline health workers from secondary Covid-19 transmission.
PHOTO/COURTESY
The robots were donated to Kenya through part of a partnership between the Ministry of Health and UNDP and financing from the Japanese government to the tune of Sh240 million.
So why the name choices of Shujaa, Jasiri and Tumaini?
Kagwe explained, “Jasiri is in honor of the courage it takes for our health workers to serve the nation while risking their own lives, while Shujaa represents not only the 32 HCWs we have lost so far but also those of us that continue to heed the protective measures we propagate daily.”
He added, “And as for Tumaini, he represents our hope -our collective hope that through our continued adherence to the rules and our inoculation against Covid-19.”
UNDP launched such robots in Rwanda last year and UNDP Kenya Resident Representative Walid Badawi said they will significantly help Kenya deal with the intrinsic risks of Covid-19.
Mutahi Kagwe. PHOTO/MOH
The robots manufactured by Chinese robotics company UBtech will record audio and video data and notify the manning authorities on any anomalies captured.
They also be used to disinfect hospitals and airports where they are deployed while also disseminating public health messages about the Covid-19 pandemic.
The three smart machines will be mobile and will detect persons not wearing masks, wearing them improperly and then alert the user and officials for immediate corrective measures.
-1712162090.jpeg)
-1713985974.jpg)
