There is a growing number of people that support drones as a mean to overcome some of the difficulties the COVID-19 situation has brought. In the past, drones have been considered mainly as an end-customer delivery mean, which can perform the service cheaper and faster. A potential extension of this application can help in providing medicines, and potentially even the vaccine itself, to remoted areas safely and fast. Nowadays, there is a significant portion of the society that would welcome the opportunity to avoid visiting the pharmacy store, grocery store and in general public places.
Amongst the countries that have implemented such models in Scotland. Skyports, a mobility company, is currently using drones to deliver test kits and PPE to habitats on the Isle of Mull. In this way, the medical teams can avoid getting exposed while still performing their services. Similarly, Zipline is also using drones to faster provide critical COVID-19 supplies to regions in Africa. The CEO of the company has also discussed the possibility of delivering goods, through the use of drones, to elderly or vulnerable people in the near future. Keep in mind also the lack of infrastructure that Africa faces in general and how drones can help in overcoming such obstacles.
In addition to that, drones can help in making public announcements based on the new rules and measures taken by the local authorities. Besides that, drone technology can also serve as a mean to guarantee that citizens follow the restrictions set. For example, in the Netherlands and in Malaysia, drones have been used to check if the social meter parameter is satisfied. In case they did not, a noisy reminder was warning them to increase the distance from each other.
Last, as the aviation sector has suffered a lot in the COVID-19 era, opportunities in the lower airspace, such as drones, are an interesting prospect to explore. Of course, the usage of drones has been heavily criticized about violating people’s rights and privacy, but in extreme situations such as this ones, perhaps they are the solution. Do you think drones are part of the solution or will they cause more problems than they solve?
Sources:
https://www.techuk.org/insights/opinions/item/17888-drones-on-the-front-line-of-the-covid-19-pandemic
https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/how-drones-are-being-used-to-combat-covid-19/
