The use of delivery drones is an ingenious and effective solution to the problems thrown up by the coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns. People obviously still need medicine and food, but venturing outside means raising the risk of infection and transmission. So, a drone delivery system would definitely solve this problem quite nicely!
Now, with confirmed Covid-19 cases worldwide topping one million, that need and demand is definitely here.
So, just recently on April 2, medicine supplies delivered by drone were green-lighted on a test basis by the Irish Aviation Authority. These crucial drone flights are to be undertaken by Manna Aero, the company that has already been making fast food deliveries using drones in and around Dublin. During this trial period, the drones will deliver prescription orders for medicines to around a dozen households. As Manna Zero’s founder Bobby Healy told the Irish press, the drones ensure “zero human-contact†and can execute deliveries “in ways normal delivery can’t.”
However, while certain media outlets have used the term “world’s first†to describe the service, it definitely isn’t the first time that drones have been used to deliver medicines or food.
Unsurprisingly, American delivery giants UPS have already rolled out its drone delivery program, working with partner CVS Pharmacy to deliver prescription drugs to customer doorsteps via its newly deployed commercial drones. UPS delivered medications to two paying customers on November 1 last year using the Matternet M2 drone system that the logistics company is already using in its earlier drone delivery trials.
China is also among the first countries to have used drone deliveries. As early as January, some reports have emerged revealing that the Communist state was already using robots to deliver food to quarantined occupants of a hotel. And while these robots weren’t unmanned aerial vehicles, China also began using drones to deliver medicine at least as early as the beginning of March (probably earlier, but Chinese state censorship is still a force to be reckoned with!).
Of course, we need more than delivery drones to defeat the coronavirus. But with apps like Zoom and Netflix helping us to work and play at home, drones provide yet another vital tool in our efforts to live “normal†lives while hiding away from COVID-19.
