A remote-controlled robot called Logistics Indoor Service Assistant (LISA), which can deliver medicine to patients, will soon be joining front-liners in attending to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients here.

The robot, a donation from the batch 1968 alumni of the Kalibo Pilot Elementary School, was turned over to the local government unit on April 20, 2021.

Basil Tabernilla, Executive Assistant II to Kalibo Mayor Emerson Lachica, said on Wednesday they are “fortunate to have been given a unit of LISA robot made by experts of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) even though only a few have been produced by them”.

“The officers and members of the Kalibo Pilot Elementary School Batch 1968 worked together to request the said robot from UST and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST),” he said in an interview.

LISA is a robot designed in the United States but assembled locally.

Its base is like a toy car with a metal pole attached to it. At the upper portion of the pole is a small tray where the medicine can be placed.

“It is (a) remote-controlled robot and can be directed by the handler to the patients, preventing direct contact with the patients,” Tabernilla said.

Equipped with a 12-volt battery that can last up to eight hours, it can carry medications and other supplies to the patient and help in the conduct of disinfection from time to time, he added.

With this, the exposure of the nurses will be minimized, also reducing the risk of contracting the disease, he said.

The LISA robot will be deployed to their Local Covid Centers (LCCs).

The municipality’s Covid-19 bulletin, posted on the Kalibo Public Affairs Facebook Page, showed it has nine active cases, 470 recoveries, and 21 deaths as of April 21. (PNA)