Drones in Israel are being used to monitor people in their homes to ensure they aren’t breaking coronavirus self-isolation rules put in place. While it’s great to see the Israeli police utilizing drones, they are raising privacy concerns among the citizens of Israel.
The World of Drones and Robotics Congress (WoDaRC) was supposed to be held in mid-September this year in Brisbane, Australia. Due to the coronavirus, the event has been moved to a later date to ensure the safety of the event’s participants.
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Slowdowns in trade and commerce continue to ripple through the global economy as the COVID-19 crisis spreads. Drone industry behemoth DJI is in a particularly vulnerable position. It’s based in China, the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. And it does substantial sales in the US, now the country hardest-hit by the disease. These strains are forcing DJI to make what it called “organizational changes” in a statement to DroneDJ.
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The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has given the go-ahead to the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) to deploy drones for enforcement and surveillance purposes to help reduce the spread of coronavirus. The operation will see the deployment of 92 drones throughout Malaysia.
Jordan is the latest country to begin using drones in the fight against coronavirus. The drones will be used to ensure residents are abiding by new laws put in place to reduce the spread of the virus. Jordan joins Australia and Spain in using drones to watch from above.
Altavian, a drone maker that supplies the US military, has shifted some of its production to a new kind of N95-grade mask to be used by medical personnel on the frontlines of America’s latest battle—the COVID-19 emergency response. In fact, the new masks may even exceed the protection of traditional N95 models.
Late last month DJI Enterprise announced it would be activating its Disaster Relief Program in response to the massive spread of COVID-19 within the United States. Since then, DJI has managed to distribute 100 drones to 40 police, fire, and public agencies across 21 states.
Drones could soon be used in Australia to disinfect the streets, shopping malls, and playgrounds in a new plan to take on coronavirus and squish as soon as possible. The drone best known for watching over beaches, Westpac Little Ripper, is working with authorities to see how drones can assist in disinfecting the streets.
As the UK works to slow the coronavirus with methods such as mandatory social distancing, the country’s police forces are using drones to shame people indoors. But whether, like Spain, Britain wants to use them to disinfect is under debate.
A man in Melbourne, Australia has used his drone to deliver drinks to his neighbors amid the latest social distancing laws currently in place around Australia. Joe Mignone flew his drone to his neighbors’ house to deliver two glasses of Johnnie Walker whisky for his neighbors to share a drink with him.
According to Chinese drone maker DJI, Spain is the first European country to use agricultural drones to try to contain the coronavirus.
The novel coronavirus has had an incredible impact on some of the biggest urban centers in the world, shutting them down for weeks and months to slow the spread. This has unsurprisingly led to some post-apocalyptic footage from drone operators in those areas. Rightfully so, since this might actually be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture what the world’s busiest cities look like when most everyone stays indoors. Here’s some of the best coronavirus drone footage so far…
Kuala Lumpur is testing drones to spray disinfectant on buildings around the city in response to coronavirus. The drones are being considered as an option thanks to the relative ease of sending a drone up instead of a manned crew that is more expensive and a higher safety risk.
What do you do when you run out of toilet paper during the coronavirus lockdown? Well, you contact your buddy and have it delivered to you by drone. Or at least that’s what this guy did in San Francisco. Check it out.
Western Australia‘s (WA) police force is going to begin using drones to deliver public service announcements. The drones will be at various popular locations, including beaches and parks where groups aren’t following the new laws in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
In an email this morning, DJI announced that the drone maker will extend the warranty service period for products with their original warranty ending from March 14, 2020 through April 30, 2020, to April 30, 2020, as the company recognizes that some of its customers may not be able to safely send their DJI products and drones in for warranty service during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Researchers at the University of South Australia are working on coronavirus detection drones capable of detecting temperature, heart, and respiratory rates, as well as detecting people sneezing and coughing in crowds. The “pandemic drone” is being created in partnership with Draganfly Inc, one of the largest enterprise drone companies to date.
At this time of global concern, the health and safety of our communities and constituents are of the utmost importance to us, and we are committed to the overall well-being of our industry. We wanted to take a moment to check in with everyone.
Chinese car company Geely announced on March 23rd it will complete new online deliveries using delivery drones to ensure human-to-human contact is avoided. New owners will be able to receive their car keys via a delivery drone that will drop them off right your door.
Some of our readers have sent us these drone videos that show the deserted streets in Chicago and Zurich as the coronavirus continues to spread around the world. By now almost all countries seem to have implemented some form of social distancing and governments are strongly advising people to stay home in an effort to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to flatten the curve.
Here’s a new way to use drones during the coronavirus lockdown. Instead of yelling at people why not ask a girl for a date using your drone? Yes, drone dating during the coronavirus lockdown with a DJI Mavic drone.
In the fight against the coronavirus, we have seen countries such as China, Spain, and France turn to drones to help communicate to people and urge them to stay inside. We had not yet seen similar drone use in the US until now. The Chula Vista Police Department in California has started to use drones to enforce the coronavirus lockdown.
Drone footage in Paris, France, has captured the almost empty roads surrounding some of the most famous landmarks throughout the city. Drones managed to capture the effect COVID-19 is having on the once-bustling city of Paris and around the world, as cities go into lockdown.
After China and Spain, the French Riviera police are now using drones as well to inform people about the dangers of the coronavirus and to order them to keep a safe distance.
Update: new photos confirm indeed that a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise with a speaker was used in this case. Drone-06 was involved in the drone operation.
Photo credits: AFP/Valery Hache
