New medical facility for COVID-19 patients inaugurated near Bucharest

A new medical facility that will be used for the treatment of mild coronavirus cases was inaugurated at the end of last week near Bucharest.

The medical center is a private initiative of French retailers Auchan and Leroy Merlin. However, the two companies managed to complete the project with the help of other firms, NGOs, the Health Ministry, and the Emergency Situations Department (DSU).

The Bucurestii Noi Medical Support Unit has 350 beds and was arranged inside a 7,500-sqm hall, which was divided into several areas, local Libertatea reported. Cardboard walls separate the patients’ beds.

Four robots are also working here, all of them donated by Bucharest Promo Robots. The robot Escu is in charge of welcoming the patients and guiding them to the reception desk, while the robot named Amelia will be used to bring food to patients, according to Libertatea. Meanwhile, the robot named Elena has a touch screen that patients can use to find the information they need. The fourth robot, UVD, helps disinfect the facility.

Escu welcomed President Klaus Iohannis at the inauguration of the new medical facility.

“Welcome, Mr. President! My name is Escu, and I am on duty at the COVID-19 modular hospital. We are going through difficult times, but everything will be fine,” the robot told Iohannis, according to G4media.ro.

After visiting the hospital, president Iohannis said that he appreciates this private initiative very much, and explained that the Matei Bals Institute and DSU would manage the new facility.

“I would like to thank all those who were involved in this project – the companies, individuals, NGOs, and volunteers […] I am very, very happy that entrepreneurs, NGOs, individuals have understood that the state should not be left alone to manage this epidemic, and we are all happy to see that business people, NGOs come with efficient and welcome help,” Iohannis said.

Prime minister Ludovic Orban, health minister Nelu Tataru, interior minister Marcel Vela, and the DSU head Raed Arafat were also present at the inauguration.

Auchan has also partnered with the local authorities in Cluj-Napoca to turn the Polyvalent Hall in the city into a hospital for Covid-19 patients.