---
title: "American Doctors Are Treating a Coronavirus Patient With a Robot"
description: "To cut down on risky human contact, doctors in Washington State are using robots and video conferences to monitor their coronavirus patient."
date: "2020-01-27"
modified: "2020-01-27"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/american-doctors-coronavirus-patient-robot"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
  - "Pathogens"
  - "Viruses"
tags:
  - "2019-ncov"
  - "robots"
---

# American Doctors Are Treating a Coronavirus Patient With a Robot

![To cut down on risky human contact, doctors in Washington State are using robots and video conferences to monitor their coronavirus patient.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/american-doctors-treat-coronavirus-patient-robot.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Providence Regional Medical Center\</em\>*

American doctors are taking extra precautions as they monitor and treat patients with 2019-nCoV, the coronavirus that emerged in China last month.

In order to [prevent the coronavirus from spreading](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/mysterious-deadly-chinese-virus-reaches-us>) within and beyond the hospital, the staff at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington is relying on a robot that can measure the patient's vitals and act as a platform for video conferencing, [according to *CNN*](<https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/23/health/us-wuhan-coronavirus-doctor-interview/index.html>).

The robot is little more than a platform on wheels with a built-in screen — nurses reportedly still need to enter the room to reposition its camera — though it does sport a stethoscope, like a real doctor. All the same, the tech illustrates the extent to which medical officials are trying to isolate 2019-nCoV cases and stem a [potentially devastating outbreak](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/timeline-china-viral-outbreak-spread-worldwide>).

The hospital updated its robotic quarantine system, *CNN* reports, in response to the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak.

"That's why we set up protocols that will allow us to treat patients with infectious diseases in a way that we can isolate them without spreading the virus to anyone," George Diaz, chief of the hospital's infectious disease division, told *CNN*.

It's unclear how long the patient will stay under quarantine, *CNN* reports, as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have requested that the hospital conduct additional tests.

"They're looking for ongoing presence of the virus," Diaz told *CNN*. "They're looking to see when the patient is no longer contagious."

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)