Robot which can diagnose 200 diseases presented to the Prime Minister

COLOMBO (News1st): The government has drawn attention towards developing a locally manufactured robot that can provide medical advice, as part of efforts to combat COVID-19. This was after Pamuditha Premachandra, the founder of Nextbots - a robotics company, had demonstrated the capabilities of the robot before Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday. "We are still developing the robot. We hope to develop it to provide medical advice for 200 diseases," Premachandra, 20, an old boy of Ananda College, Colombo told News1st. "If we are to import this robot without the software it would cost us between Rs 250,000 and Rs 300,000. However, we can manufacture it for half the cost in the country". The innovator explained that talks will be held with state authorities to discuss the possibility of using the robot in the country's fight against the novel coronavirus. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday indicated that the government intends to use the robot in combatting COVID-19. "I have instructed to support the development of this innovation, for it to be used during this epidemic," the Prime Minister said in a statement issued by his office. The robot is capable of understanding and responding in the English and Sinhala languages.