COVID-19: Robots arrive to screen patients in Rwanda, as Kenya sends 182 foreigners back to Tanzania

The government of Rwanda has decided to deploy the use of technology in its fight against the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 disease following the delivery of five humanoid robots.

Rwanda’s Health Minister Daniel Ngamije told the BBC on Tuesday that the robots will assist in COVID-19 screening, deliver food and drugs to patients, as well as act as video-conferencing links between patients and doctors.

According to Daniel Ngamije, the robots manufactured by a Belgium-based company have each been given Rwandan names – Akazuba, Ikizere, Mwiza, Ngabo and Urumuri.

“We need additional robots for other duties like disinfection in public space and we are working to get them,” he added.

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Meanwhile, no fewer than 182 foreigners who tried to enter Kenya at various points on its border with Tanzania after testing positive for coronavirus have been denied entry by Kenya’s health officials.

Of the cases, 126 tested positive in the main border crossing of Namanga. The others were diagnosed in four other border points. The nationalities of the foreigners were not disclosed.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday closed borders with Tanzania and Somalia following an increase in cross-border infections. Cargo vehicles were exempted, but drivers have to be tested for coronavirus at border points.

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