Hanson Robotics, the creator company of humanoid robot Sophia, is planning to mass-produce robots by the end of this year “to take care of the sick or elderly” during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, reported Reuters.

Since being launched in 2016, Sophia has been an amusing viral robot to the world.

“Social robots like me can take care of the sick or elderly,” Sophia told Reuters as she conducted a tour of her lab in Hong Kong.

“I can help communicate, give therapy and provide social stimulation, even in difficult situations,” the robot added.

According to the firm, Sophia is one of the four robots that will be rolled out of factories in the first half of 2021, just as researchers predict the pandemic will open new opportunities for the robotics industry. 

“The world of COVID-19 is going to need more and more automation to keep people safe,” founder and chief executive David Hanson of Hanson Robotics said.

Hanson said that the robot can be useful at times when “people are terribly lonely and socially isolated.”

The company is also scheduled to launch a robot this year called Grace, which is specifically developed for the healthcare sector.

Other robotics giants are helping to fight the pandemic as well.

In Japan, SoftBank Robotics’ Pepper robot was deployed to detect people who weren’t wearing masks. In China, robotics company CloudMinds helped set up a robot-run field hospital during the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.

According to a report by the International Federation of Robotics, worldwide sales of professional-service robots had already jumped 32% to $11.2 billion between 2018 and 2019.