Drones are being re-purposed in China to try and prevent the further spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Fleets of drones have been spotted in villages and cities across the country, dispersing disinfectant, it has been reported.
 
Videos taken in the coastal provinces of Jilin, Shandong, and Zhejiang have been shared on social media and show them hovering in the air while the disinfectant liquid is sprayed from a device underneath the bot and into the atmosphere.
According to reports, a villager in Heze, Shandong, used his own personal drone to disinfect an area of 16,000 square metres (172,000 square feet) over the course of a single morning. It’s said that the unmanned aerial vehicles are proving to be a more effective method of delivering public hygiene than on foot or by car.
Police have also been out disinfecting the country’s south-western Sichuan Province, in areas not otherwise easily accessible, such as people’s roofs.
Crop protection officer Qin Chunhong, from the village of Longfu, Sichuan, reportedly disinfected his village using his own drone.
He said: “Drones can cover a much wider area and achieve very good disease prevention results.
“As disinfectant is harmless to humans, it doesn’t affect anyone’s daily life.”
Since the virus hit China earlier this month, around 10,000 people have been diagnosed with the illness, while so far 213 people have died.
