TUNIS: Tunis police are taking social distancing to another level, using robots to enforce the city’s coronavirus lockdown to prevent the spread of the disease.

In one video that has been widely shared across social media, a man is confronted by the P-Guard robot as he is seen stepping out of his Tunis apartment block into the empty street.

In scenes more fitting with a futuristic science fiction movie, the robot then shouts at the man: “Are you aware of the lockdown?” and demands to know where he is going.

He explains he is going to buy cigarettes, the robot tells him to carry on, but to be fast and to go straight back home.

#WATCH: Man in Tunis confronted by unmanned robot patrolling the streets during #Coronavirus lockdown... Gets told to "hurry up" when he says he is "just buying cigarettes" #Tunisia #COVID19 More on the city's unmanned vehicles here: https://t.co/UUKxabtsdd pic.twitter.com/drM2NzcsoS — arabnews (@arabnews) March 29, 2020

The P-Guard robots were locally developed by Enova Robotics and are being used by the Ministry of Interior to enforce the Tunis lockdown which came into force on March 22.

Founded in 2014, Enova describes its futuristic creation as a “rugged security robot for multi-terrain applications.”

The robot uses several infrared cameras to function, which are arranged to cover the robot’s surroundings and it is also fitted with a thermal camera and a sound and light alarm system.

The robot incorporates GPS to locate itself in its environment as well as a laser telemetry system.

Tunisia has 278 confirmed cases of COVID-19, eight people have died from the virus.