Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The Australian state of Victoria is probing how the government has responded to COVID-19. During the inquiry, Public Accounts and Estimates Committee member David Limbrick had a few questions to ask concerning the Victorian Police‘s use of drone technology .

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While a few countries around the world are starting to recover from COVID-19, many are still just at the beginning of a difficult time. Drone footage taken in São Paulo, Brazil, has captured the massive affect COVID-19 is having on the Brazilian population, with cemeteries digging mass graves to accommodate the mounting deaths.

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As America gradually starts to reopen its economy after COVID-19 lockdowns, the need to continually disinfect public spaces is growing. Researchers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) have a suggestion: build disinfecting drones with germ-killing UV-C lights.
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In need of a checkup? If you’re in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, you may get one whether you want to or not. The city is deploying drones with infrared cameras to spot residents who may have fevers due to COVID-19.
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Ingenuity can be turned to many purposes. The same tech that builds drones can also make medical equipment. So is the lesson from Amazon Prime Air, which recently started mass-producing face shields for frontline COVID-19 medical workers.
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India is under very strict lockdown as a result of the coronavirus, with police aggressively enforcing the rules and citing violators. Now they are getting help from US drones that monitor crowds and social distancing in India.
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Virtually all public sporting events are closed down due to the coronavirus. But when venues consider reopening, a New York-based drone company is offering a solution to keep them germ free by spraying disinfectant from above.
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Drones have become a fixture in the COVID-19 pandemic response. From Asia to Europe to the US, authorities have been employing drones to monitor social distancing and sometimes even cite violators. That was too much for French civil rights advocates, who sued to block social distancing drones in Paris.
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Economies around the world are imploding due to the shut-down of businesses in the COVID-19 era. But even in downtimes, there are winners—companies that provide the right products or services for the needs at hand. In the era of social distancing, drones are emerging as a no-contact solution for many jobs.
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The dark age of the coronavirus is shaping up to be a golden age of drone innovation. We’re seeing a boon in delivery drones, for instance, as well as a new class of diagnostic drones. The latest comes from students at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University: A drone that can a hear a COVID-19 cough.
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If anyone knows the name “Draganfly,” it may be from an unfortunate news story from last week. The Canadian company’s plan to test a coronavirus-monitoring “pandemic drone” in Westport, Connecticut, came to a halt when anxious citizens and civil rights advocates got wind of it.
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Ireland’s Manna Aero had a plan—to deliver fast food by drone. And it was about to start a trial for college students in March when the coronavirus hit–one of so many plans changed by the pandemic. Now it’s pivoted to a new role as a delivery service for pharmacies.
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Australian drone delivery company Swoop Aero is looking to transport COVID-19 test kits around Australia to reduce the need for human interaction during this time. Swoop Aero is working with the federal government and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to get the drones off the ground.

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A beachgoer in Italy had his sunbathing session cut short when a police drone which spotted him on the lonely beach during the COVID-19 lockdown. The Rimini Municipality police have shared the video online as a way to show off the tech they are using to fight coronavirus and monitor the public.

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UPS partnered with Workhorse Group, Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), and DroneUp to complete various tests to see how drones can be used to assist medical professionals in the fight against COVID-19. The tests evaluated the commercial drone industry’s ability to step up and produce drones to aid the U.S. healthcare system.

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DJI Enterprise’s Disaster Response Program has been delivering drones to police departments around the United States over the last few weeks in the fight against COVID-19. DJI Enterprise is sending out its DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise drones equipped with a speaker to allow messages to be shared via drone.

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Draganfly’s “Pandemic Drone” will complete its first few test flights in the coming days with Westport Police Department in Connecticut. This is a key part of the Flatten the Curve Pilot Program created by Draganfly, healthcare data service Vital Intelligence, and the University of South Australia (UniSA).

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Three hundred drones hit the skies a few nights ago above Zhuhai, China, in a show of thanks to the medical team on the coronavirus frontline in Hubei province, which was hardest hit during the outbreak. The drones put on a synchronized light show that filled the sky with animations.

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The coronavirus lockdown has forced much of the world to stay indoors. That would seem to rule out flying drones, which many people know as flying cameras that provide sweeping aerial vistas. But there are many fun little drones you can safely fly around the house, as well as games you can play anywhere. Today we are sharing a few of our favorite products that let you take off, without going out.

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French drone maker, Parrot will be supporting the MakeAir open-source ventilator project by donating 5,000 motors to help build the devices. Parrot will give 500 motors at the launch of the project and continue to manufacture the rest.

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Moroccan startup Farasha Systems has created a drone specially designed to spray disinfectant in large areas in a short amount of time as a response to coronavirus. Farasha has been working with Moroccan officials to bring the specialized drone to market.

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