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News round-up (12 October)

A round-up of health and social care innovation and tech headlines

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12th October 2020 about a 3 minute read

Here are some stories that caught our eye…

Virus that causes Covid-19 can survive up to 28 days on surfaces, scientists find

The Guardian reports that scientists in Australia have discovered that COVID-19 can last for up to 28 days on surfaces such as the glass on mobile phones, stainless steel, vinyl and paper banknotes.

Researchers at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong also found that SARS-CoV-2 survived longer at lower temperatures.

 

Welsh Deputy Minister launches Tech Festival for Social Good

The Wales Co-operative Centre is hosting an online festival this week for organisations interested in the benefits of digital technology for social good.

Part of Digital Leaders Week, the festival is bringing together experts from across the public, private, third sector and business to share knowledge and explore the potential of digital tech to improve people’s lives.

 

Zorabots makes all its James robots available to Belgium’s retirement homes

Tech company Zorabots has announced it is making all its James robots available to retirement homes and healthcare professionals free of charge so residents and their families can stay in touch during the pandemic.

The robot is mobile and voice-activated, can move from room to room and residents do not need to touch it to make a call so it should not spread COVID-19.

 

New emergency care research hub for Bristol area

The University of Bristol and UWE Bristol have joined up in a new collaboration aimed at improving the delivery of emergency care.

Research in Emergency Care, Avon Collaborative Hub (REACH) will work closely with local health and care providers and commissioners to help ensure services locally and nationally are based on the best evidence.

 

CQC demands improvements at William Harvey Hospital

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has raised concerns over staff use of PPE and infection control practices at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.

Inspectors took urgent enforcement action following an announced visit which found staff wearing masks incorrectly and not always using alcohol hand gel on entering and leaving wards.

 

Virtual puppets promise glitch-free video calls

An AI process that could enable video calls to be made over very slow internet connections has been developed by Nvidia, the graphics card-maker.

The process uses less bandwidth by sending just a few key components of the original footage. The process is still in development but uses a fraction of data that video calling does.