Some silver linings in the dark cloud of COVID-19 and lockdown

Labours of love

Migrant workers quarantined in the Government Secondary School at Palsana, 28 kilometres from Sikar, noticed that the school building was dilapidated and had not received a coat of pint for a decade and more. Grateful for the hospitality of the panchayat, which provided them with food and water and arranged for regular health check up, the workers from Haryana, UP and MP offered to repair and paint the building. They had never lived so long without work, they explained.

Call of duty

Devidas Jaisingh Rathod (55), is a commerce graduate and conductor with Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).

One of his daughters is now a doctor and another a trained nurse. During the lockdown he was posted to a bus that ferried doctors and nurses from Palghar to KEM hospital at Dadar. While Rathod normally hitches a ride on passing trucks to Palghar 21 Kilometres away, he runs if he doesn’t get a ride, to reach the bus depot at 6 am.

Robot in hospital

A robot developed in 15 days by Kochi based Asimov Robotics has been deployed at the COVID-19 ward of Government Medical College at Kalamassery. Donated by a charitable foundation run by actor Mohanlal, the robot reduces the caregiver’s contact with the patient. It carries food and medicine, disinfect contaminated spots, sets up a video call with the doctor at the patient’s request and sanitises trash. The robot named ‘Karmi Bot’ is now being programmed to take temperature from a distance.

Game changer

A class XI student from West Bengal has developed a mask with unique features. Government of India has obtained Digantika Bose’s permission to develop the design. The mask comprises two one-way valves, one for inhaling air and another for exhaling. It also has two container sections in which the virus in the air is trapped and destroyed. The design submitted to the Challenge COVID-19 Competition organiszed by National Innovation Foundation, seeks to ensure that exhaled droplets do not contain any virus.