Like a lot of America, in the last few weeks I’ve started to become a little lonely and
a little stir-crazy. Which is why I begged my staff to find me a safe way to interact
with my fellow humans again. Thanks to coronavirus, much of the world is under lockdown. But I
wanted to take advantage of this beautiful spring day and socialize in an innovative
way. Oh my god, look at all the people! I became a robot! This is great! Hi Hi! Check
me out! I’m a robot. Wait. Wait. Wait! For some reason, people found me… unapproachable.
Buddy! Buddy! Where’s your mask? Be safe! But then— Oh hi! Hi.
- Hi, how are you? Look at all the stuff you have in your basket!
Can I see your flowers? - Yeah.
Oh, look! Thank you for that. Even though I love flowers, I'm still being safe. My producer
and her boyfriend shot this themselves while maintaining a reasonable distance from other
people. - Ready, Sam?
Yep. - Okay. Here we go.
Where are we going? AHhh! They might break up because of me, but at least they’ll be
healthy. Anyway, man, there are a lot of New Yorkers out here. Wonder how they’re doing.
- Let's put it this way: two months ago we’re on the C train getting pushed up so, you basically
have a man’s penis on your f—ing back. Sure.
- And now all of a sudden it’s like, oh, we gotta be six feet apart.
Well, hopefully for that guy his penis is 6 feet long.
- Well, we’ve all seen that on the subway too, so.
Boy, we have all seen that. - Please keep it away!
New Yorkers are unstoppable! They’re still going on runs. Oh! Can I jog with you? Can
I jog with you?! They’re still walking their dogs. Hi, puppy! Hi, puppy! Hi, puppy! And
they’re all doing this: Are you using video chat in your regular life?
- Yes. It’s great to be able to connect with people.
It is! I can even move towards you Look! Look at this!
- Wait! Six feet! - I think that the technology thing is like,
really helpful. I was able to have my parents at my Passover seder for the first time in
10 years. Wow.
- So that was nice. Okay! Are you working from home now? Are you
able to do that? - I am working from home, yeah. So I work
for a watch company. I’m still doing that but instead of travelling to the stores...
Where am I going? - I don’t know.
What’s happening? I have to park. Hold on. There. Parked. No, I’m still kind of wiggling
around. Ahh! Owww. Okay, video chatting can’t stop gravity, but it does connect teachers
to students, and late night comedy hosts to their fans.
- I’m going for a walk with Samantha Bee! This is kind of, like, the highlight of my
week. Mine too! Wait! Wait, who else is using this?
Oh! Another robot friend! Who are you? WALL-E.
- EVE. Just kidding! It’s Dr. Djavaherian. Oh hi! When not playing WALL-E, Dr. Djavaherian
is the founder of Carbon Health, a company that connects health care providers and patients
via telemedicine. Basically, a technological house call. How do you get regular people
to adapt to this? - Frankly, technology’s been a huge burden
for a long time. If you’re older, you might have a harder time onboarding.
What you’re saying is that when my mother-in-law makes her first telemedicine appointment,
she’s gonna do the whole appointment like this. “There’s a mole on my back. Ca—,
Hello? Hello?” Thanks to COVID-19—never thought i’d say that—more insurance companies
and Medicare are covering virtual visits. It’s a tele-miracle! But how do you do a
tele-health in the time of corona? - When we had our first patients come in that
we were worried about, we realized, oh, we need to assess, are they appropriate to go
into the clinic? Or should they go to the emergency department? And if you send them
to the clinics, we would call the clinic ahead of time, and say, “Hey, we’ve got someone
sick coming in. Make sure you’re protected.” And I’m happy to say that even though we’ve
tested over 10,000 patients, none of our doctors or staff have caught coronavirus.
Whaaat? Does Dr Fauci have your number? He obviously does not. What else is Dr. Djavaherian
doing? - We worked with a laboratory partner to create
an at-home test for coronavirus. We can send tests anywhere in the United States, have
patients swab their mouths. So it’s similar to like, when you do a spit test on 23andMe.
Oh! Like you find out whether or not you have coronavirus and then you also find out that
your entire life was a lie. - That’s right.
Telemedicine is a very good idea, and when used correctly, it helps everyone! Tell me
about how telemedicine can be used with respect to abortion.
- There’s a large body of evidence that early abortions, so less than 10 weeks, can
be safely cared for via telemedicine and medication administration. In Europe it’s much more
readily available, but in the U.S., there are barriers that seem to be man-made.
And do you foresee a future in which those barriers will be broken down?
- I mean, absolutely. We’re hoping one of the positive things that comes out of coronavirus
is adding another choice for patients to access care. I mean, imagine if you’re living in
a small town where the local doctor is maybe, you know, someone you go to church with. And
you have a concern that you want to remain private.
Right. I don’t want to show this herp to Dr. Kevin! I’ve got to drive two towns over.
- Yeah. I’m going to call you up every time another
herp emerges. - Oh god.
Come back! Herpes and coronavirus aside, seeing people make the best of this situation is
inspiring this old witch to try new things. Like ride a bicycle! Will you go for a bike
ride with me? - Of course! I’d love to!
Look at us! We’re riding together! Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do! I’m
half crazy, all for the love of you!