Healthcare workers in Italy are now assisted by robots to reduce the risk of infection with the new coronavirus, Covid-19.
Italy is one of the countries most affected by the coronavirus in the world. If hope is gradually restored, further steps are being taken in hospitals to relieve caregivers and minimize the risk of Covid-19 infection.
In an establishment in the north of Lombardy, the Italians bet for technology. Indeed, doctors and other caregivers are now working with robots! These allow hospital staff to limit their direct contact with patients but also to save protective equipment such as surgical masks or gowns.
The six robots who joined the team are remotely controlled and are equipped with a camera. Thus, doctors are able to monitor their patients by reducing the risk of contracting the virus themselves. These robots are also designed to monitor certain parameters such as breathing, blood pressure and heart rate of patients. They can also have simple conversations with patients.
These new members like no other are a real relief in a country where more than 9,500 caregivers have been affected by the coronavirus. They quickly found their place in the hospital. A doctor of the establishment effectively affirms that staff members are satisfied with the work of the robots as they reduce the risk of nosocomial infection. "Robots are tireless assistants. They cannot be contaminated, they are never sick", says the head of the intensive care unit at Circolo hospital in Varese, adding that robots have another advantage: they make younger patients smile.
Lombardy is one of the regions most affected by the disease, it concentrates more than half of the deaths due to Covid-19 in Italy. The local nursing staff were "hard hit by the virus. The fact that these robots cannot be contaminated is something great ", explains Francesco Dentali.
According to the Higher Institute of Health, nearly 10% of people infected in Italy by the virus belonged to the medical profession. The medical order established a list of 70 doctors who have died since the start of the pandemic, although it is unclear whether the cause of death was coronavirus.
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by Sarah Chekroun