Robot cooks for medical staff fighting virus in Wuhan

Doctors and patients in one of the isolated areas of Wuhan, Hubei, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, are able to eat hot claypot rice whenever they want, free of charge.

In a temporary hospital located at the Hubei Land and Resources Vocational College, a container-like claypot rice robot is working 24 hours a day. The robot can make 36 bowls of rice at one time.

After ordering by scanning a QR code, meals are ready in just 15 seconds.

The trainee manager for the robot shop, Sun Zongzhe, is happy about the service they're providing: “Let medical staff have a hot meal when they are on duty for the night.”

Another staffer, Dai Shaoli, said he's there voluntarily. His parents are both doctors working on the front-line. “I want to contribute somehow for Wuhan, just like my parents.”

Getting the robot all the way to Wuhan wasn't an easy feat, but they reckon it was worth it.

It took 18-hours and more than 1,000 kilometers’ on the road, but Dai and his other five colleagues finally arrived at the hospital on the afternoon of February 14 from Foshan in Guangdong Province. As well as the robot, the crew brought enough raw materials for 7,000 bowls of claypot rice.