Health workers are at the front line of the COVID-19 outbreak response and as such are exposed to hazards that put them at risk of infection.
In U.S. more than 60,000 health care workers have been infected, and close to 300 have died from COVID-19, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Still, the growing number of health care workers infected by the coronavirus provides sobering evidence that many are still working in high-risk settings without reliable or adequate protection against the virus.
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In this regard the robotics researchers in Denmark have invented a world’s first fully automatic robot capable of carrying out throat swabs for Coronavirus, so that healthcare professionals are not exposed to the risk of infection.
The robot, which was designed by the Industry 4.0 Lab at the University of Southern Denmark, is able to swab a patient’s throat using a 3D-printed disposable arm, the robot takes a throat swab and then places the sample into a glass bottle, according to a press released published on the university’s website on Wednesday.
“I was surprised at how softly the robot managed to land the swab at the spot in the throat where it was supposed to hit, so it was a huge success,” said Thiusius Rajeeth Savarimuthu, who runs the Industry 4.0 Lab.
The lab says it is working with Danish startup Lifeline Robotics to manufacture a prototype that can begin testing coronavirus patients by the end of June, with the end goal of selling the machines by fall.
In April, Singapore researchers invented a disinfecting robot to help take the load off overworked cleaners during the pandemic.
The coronavirus COVID-19 which emerged from Wuhan China and has since affected more than 213 countries and territories around the world with over 5,864,445 confirmed cases and 360,323 fatalities as of 28th May 2020.
