Karnataka govt to deploy robots to help doctors monitor Covid patients


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Bengaluru: To deal with shortage of doctors and healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic, the Karnataka government is planning to enlist robots for help.

The decision has been taken after a suggestion to this effect was made by the technical team assisting the government in managing the pandemic.

“It was the technical committee’s suggestion to us. This will help us contain the spread (of the pandemic),” Dr K. Sudhakar, Karnataka’s Medical Education Minister who is also the overall incharge of Covid operations in the state, told ThePrint.

While a trial run is starting Thursday, the minister said the state Covid task force will take a formal decision on the project in a couple of days.

For the test run, the state has roped in a US-based robotics company, BePresent, which also has presence in Bengaluru, to help with remote consultation and monitoring of Covid patients, using robots.

The government is introducing these robots Thursday at a new Covid care facility at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), located on the outskirts of the city.

This BIEC centre with 10,100 beds is reportedly one of India’s biggest Covid facilities.

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