At the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, technology is the centrepiece in fighting COVID-19. Three robots – Jasiri, Shujaaa and Tumaini have been deployed.
The three robots arrived in the country two weeks ago and have played a tremendous role in taming the spread of coronavirus.
Jasiri, Shujaa and Tumaini were assembled by China but donated jointly by United Nations Development Programme and Japan.
Their core mandate is screening all arrival for COVID-19 and also dis infecting the airport. They have containers filled with sanitizers which they spray finely onto the airport’s grounds and surfaces.
An infrared feature fitted on the robots with a camera has the ability to scan at least 100 passenger in a minute.
In one of the rounds, Jasiri is busy at work. The robot records temperature readings and stores it for future reference and addresses the passengers in English.
It reminds all arriving passenger to maintain social distance and always put on their mask.
JKIA operations manager Simon Peter Njoroge told Reuters that Jasiri has been pivotal in ensuring the safety of international travel.
“Jasiri’s role in this airport is to enhance the safety of international travel,” airport operations manager, Simon-Peter Njoroge stated.
He hailed technology as the next big thing for the future.
“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.”
Clearance for arrivals at JKIA is now fast and less cumbersome. The robots are clearing about 200 people every minutes.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said that they named the robots in honour of what they are doing, complementing health workers.
Also, Shujaa the robot is in honour of all the medics who have lost their lives due to COVID-19.