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 The
three glossy white robots, made in China and donated by Japan and
the United Nations Development Programme, have been put to work at
Nairobi's main international airport, keeping it disinfected and
monitoring arrivals for signs of the virus.
As Jasiri - a Swahili 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.
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"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."
Meanwhile, the trio are also helping to curb the spread of an
epidemic that has so far killed almost 1,800 and infected more than
100,000 in the East African nation - 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."
(Reporting by Reuters TV, Writing by Clement Uwiringiyimana; editing
by John Stonestreet)
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