The United Nations Development Programme launched three robots in partnership with Japan. These robots are designed to help the country’s Ministry of Health in fighting against COVID-19.

The three robots (RoboRafiki) named Tumaini, Jasiri, and Shujaa were developed thanks to the funding from the Japanese government.

Speaking during the launch, Mutahi Kagwe, Cabinet Secretary for Health, said, “COVID-19 has shown us that disease does not respect national boundaries. Today, as we deploy the Robots, we shall be a step ahead in combating the virus.”

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The robots have been developed to fulfil various tasks that health workers have been doing in the fight against the pandemic. They can be used to disinfect contaminated areas as well as perform temperature checks on individuals. Through the screens they feature, messages that remind people of COVID-19 protocols can also be sent to people in large establishments.

According to UNDP, the robots can measure temperatures of 10 to 100 people per minutes at a distance of 2.5m to 3.5m. Patient information can also be collected for purposes of analysis thus providing instant statistics for investigation.

The tech around these robots is pretty cool and new at a time when countries are looking for means to keep fighting the pandemic. The bots were made by a Chinese company called UBTECH that specialises in “smart anti-pandemic robot solutions”.

So far, Kenya has recorded a total of  99,630 positive COVID-19 cases in the country from a total of 1,142,543 tests done.

The robots launch also follows the Ministry of Health’s move to have digital verification of COVID-19 certificates at border points.