- Jasiri takes temperatures, records peronal data for storage and, in tone-flat English, tells those not wearing masks to put them on.
- The robots are made in China and were donated by Japan and the United Nations Development Programme.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
Jasiri, Shujaa and Tumaini only landed in Kenya just over two weeks ago, but they're already playing an important role in curbing the spread of coronavirus.
The three glossy white robots, made in China and donated by Japan and the United Nations Development Programme, have been put to work at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, keeping it disinfected and monitoring arrivals for signs of Covid-19.
As Jasiri - a Kiswahili word meaning brave - does his rounds, he sprays fine jets of sanitiser from containers attached to his sides, and takes infrared pictures with a camera mounted on an extendable neck while scanning hundreds of passengers per minute.
He takes their temperatures, records their data for storage and, in tone-flat English, tells those not wearing masks to put them on and those standing too close to others to respect social distancing rules.
"Jasiri’s role in this airport is to enhance the safety of international travel," airport operations manager, Simon-Peter Njoroge told Reuters.
"This is one more example of how the future is going to look. The future is going towards contactless travel, it's going towards automation, it's going towards a greater focus on health security.... I see that as a powerful force for the enhancement of air travel."
The robots are estimated to screen the temperatures of up to 200 people per minute, which helps to fast-track traveller clearance at the airport.
“I have every confidence that all our travellers, foremost the tourists visiting Kenya, will appreciate the ability of these robots. As a country, we are open to any and all innovations that add value to our health care services and ask them not to stop there,” Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said when he received the robots last month.
ICT and health personnel working in the areas where the robots are deployed have undergone specialised training.
“Jasiri is in honour of the courage it takes for healthcare workers to serve the nation while risking their 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,” Kagwe said.
“If you have sacrificed visiting an elderly parent because you don’t want to risk their life, you are a hero. Equally, if you have continued to wear a mask in public places, maintain social distance from others and sanitise, you are our hero.”
Tumaini on the other hand represents the collective hope by Kenyans that through the continued adherence to the rules and inoculation against Covid-19, they shall overcome the pandemic and return to normalcy.
“Some of you may recall my discussing robotic surgery during my vetting a year ago and my goal to catapult Kenya into the medical space where we would join leagues of those who benefit from surgical procedures from remote distances,” Kagwe said.
The CS noted that robots have been at work for a long time in different parts of the world, adding that countries like Japan have protected humans from hazardous tasks for decades.
“The first industrially successful robot performed automated tasks that were dangerous to humans on an automobile assembly line. We have robots aiding firefighters with restricted visibility and others patrolling dangerous border lines or nuclear environments and, in this era more than ever, we now have the presence of robots in healthcare.”
Meanwhile, the trio is also helping to curb the spread of an epidemic that has so far killed almost 1,800 and infected more than 100,000 - and saving passengers time on arrival formalities.
"There was a long queue but ...we have a system which can take more than one hundred people's temperature at the same time," said Major Pascal, from Burundi. "That is good."