China is allegedly using drones to keep a watchful eye over its residents, ensuring the appropriate precautions to keep the coronavirus at bay are being taken. The drones are being used to measure residents' temperatures, without endangering medical staff, as well as providing directions to pedestrians on how they can better keep the virus at bay. Robots are also being used in hospitals to alleviate the pressure from over-worked medical staff and to provide faster checks of the virus.

The droids began to deliver medicine and food to sufferers as well as collecting bed sheets and medical rubbish. With at least 20 medical workers in China infected while looking after patients, the use of self-driving and self-charging machines is being seen as a way to cut down the workload of medics and reduce the risks of cross-infection.

While being handy, if may also be considered a little impersonal. However, if it can stop human-to-human transmission and help get the message out to everyone in a safe and measured way, it could be revolutionary for future epidemics.

The shocking numbers are, at this point, of 31.529 confirmed cases and 638 deaths. 1.659 infected people were able to recover from the epidemic.

 

Nuno Costa