The COVID-19 hospital of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) is now home to a “coro-bot warrior” which is a robot created by a Dombivli based engineer.
Pratik Tirodkar, the creator of the robots in a statement to the media said that these robots could be used to supply food and medicines in the isolation wards of the COVID-19 hospitals. This can prove to be useful especially as more and more health workers have been testing positive as a result of the contagious nature of the coronavirus. Now the health workers can distribute the necessary supplies without going near the patients.
The robot also has a sanitizer and water drinking facilities. Therefore, patients can first sanitize their hands before taking food or drinking water. The robot is said to serve 15 patients at a time in isolation wards without human touch. The battery-operated machine is further equipped with a speaker and a camera. The camera allows the operator to operate from a distance with the speaker providing additional auditory facilities in order to provide instructions to the patients.
In other news, Maharashtra has issued lockdown guidelines for the newer extended lockdown which is valid till June 30. In addition to the Centre's guidelines for reopening in phases, Maharashtra has imposed phase-wise reopening of activities in areas of MCGM (Mumbai), Municipal Corporations of Pune, Solapur, Aurangabad, Malegaon, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola, Amravati, and Nagpur.
As per the new guidelines, night curfew timings have been amended to 9:00 PM to 5 AM across the nation, except for essential services. Moreover, the MHA has stated that lockdown in containment zones will continue till June 30, allowing only essential activities and no movement of people in or out of it. The MHA has also ordered states to ensure no restriction in the movement of goods and persons on an intra-state and inter-state level. Movement of Shramik and passenger trains, domestic air travel, movement of stranded Indians abroad will continue as per SOPs.