INTERNATIONAL: Open your door for room service and what is the last thing you expect to see? A robot? Well that is exactly what one hotel in Beijing is using to deliver food as the Winter Olympics approaches.
At the China National Convention Centre hotel in Beijing, an official Olympic hotel for the Winter Olympics, which starts on February 4, the robots are being used to reduce the spread of COVID.
Robots arrive at the guest's door, the guest types a pin code into the robot and the robot opens to give out the food. Once the guest has taken the food out the robot closes and moves off down the corridor.
Beijing has reported 14 local confirmed Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest daily count in its current outbreak, less than two weeks before the Winter Olympics are set to start in the Chinese capital and the neighboring province of Hebei.
Although the numbers for Beijing's outbreak since January 15 are lower than elsewhere in the world, the city has ordered targeted lockdowns for tens of thousands of people and tested a few million residents to block infection.
The restrictions, in line with a national effort to curb virus flare-ups as soon as possible, take on extra urgency as China has vowed to safely host the Winter Games and prevent major outbreaks during the Lunar New Year travel season.