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“The Window of Opportunity is Narrowing”: Drones And Other UAV’s Are Being Used to Fight Coronavirus in China

Harry McNabb
From The Chinese News Service

The country of China is deploying drones and unmanned robots to disinfect hospitals and public space,  enforce quarantine restrictions and deliver medicines in their efforts to stem the tide of this growing epidemic, as the world braces for what is edging toward a global pandemic  there is some lessons to be learned from China as to how they are using drone and related technology to battle the disease.

The situation appears to be worsening.  The Director-General for the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva Switzerland said in a press conference, “Although the window of opportunity is narrowing to contain the outbreak, we still have a chance to contain it“,  he said.  “If we don’t,  if we squander the opportunity, then we will have a serious problem on our hands”…  he continues,  “Although the total number of cases outside China remains relatively small, we are concerned about the number of cases with no clear epidemiological link, such as travel history to China or contact with a confirmed case.”

He also said that it was “very concerning” that Iran has reported 18 cases with 4 deaths in the last two days.  There are also also other cases reported around the world including over 30 in the US, with more in Korea and Japan.

While much still needs to be learned about the virus is primarily  spread through human to human transmission close contacts  generated by sneezing and coughing.  However, there is growing evidence that the virus can remain alive on some surfaces for some period of time.

NPR has recently reported:

From Chinese News Service 
  “China has put more than half a billion people under partial or total lockdown in what it is calling an all-out “people’s war” against the spread of the new coronavirus. That’s equivalent to restricting the movement of the entire population of North America.” 
Chinese state media has reported that drones and robots are being used by the government to cut the risk of person-to-person transmission of the disease.
Drones used to enforce quarantine and crowd control
Global Times reported on viral videos showing drones with loudspeakers directing individuals in rural areas to go back inside. Officials are allegedly using the technology to supervise and give orders remotely to civilians.  They have also ordered citizens to wear masks and have even injected some humor as reported by the Global Times, where a policewoman directs people via a drone:
From Chinese News Service

“The handsome guy who is on the phone, where is your mask? Put it on please,” the policewoman said through a loud-speaker.

“The girls who are eating food while walking, put on your masks please. You can eat when you arrive at home,” she said.

“Please make sure you wear masks when going to public places during this special period,” she said.

Megaphones have been used in China for some time to aid in crowd control.  The megaphone is attached as the payload for a drone and is directed by law enforcement officials on the ground.

Remote-controlled units disinfect streets

Small remote controlled vehicles have been seen on on the streets of Taiyuan in northern China. Directed by staff wearing hazmat suits can reportedly disinfect 50,000 square meters in an hour.”We began using them for disinfection and disease-prevention in Taiyuan on 4 February,” deputy secretary-general of the Shanxi Province Unmanned Vehicle Association Hou Yongei told AsiaWire.”Twice a day, we send them into gated communities where there have been confirmed cases.”
Drones help with construction and deliver food and supplies
Drones have allegedly been used to hover over the construction sites for two emergency hospitals being built in Wuhan and provide light so that construction staff can work through the night.  These new hospitals have been constructed in a matter of weeks and can hold over 1,000 patients.
According to the news service Reuters, a robot called Little Peanut has been used to deliver food and supplies to occupants of a hotel where over 300 quarantined passengers of an infected flight are quarantined.
Self-driving disinfection robots for hospitals
A Danish-designed self-driving UV Disinfection Robots are being shipped to China for use in hospitals.These devices, made from a company, UVD Robots, emit concentrated UV-C light on top of a wheeled base. The light has a germicidal effect, killing some airborne viruses and bacteria on surfaces.  This automates the process of disinfecting common areas in highly contagious areas.
From the Company Website

 

Drone deliveries to coronavirus-hit areas

Quarantine restrictions have impacted normal supply routes along road, rail or water.

Drone company TerraDrone recently announced that:” At 9:00 am on February 6, 2020, a medical delivery drone flew from the People’s Hospital of Xinchang County to the disease control center of Xinchang County, marking the launch of the first “urban air transportation channel” to help to fight the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a global health emergency. Xinchang County is located in Zhejiang province — one of the most severely-hit provinces by the virus, with 1,006 patients already confirmed to be affected by 2019-nCoV as of Feb 6, 2020.”

 

 

 

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