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Spanish Police Turn to Drones to Tell People to Stay Home Due to COVID-19

Spain is officially in lockdown starting the last weekend

Mar 19, 2020 08:18 GMT  ·  By
Drones are now being used to tell people to stay inside
   Drones are now being used to tell people to stay inside

Spain is one of the most affected European countries by the new coronavirus, so the country is currently in lockdown starting the last weekend, with citizens told to stay home as much as possible.

As it typically happens, there are people who just ignore these recommendations and go outside for no clear reason, risking not only to contract the virus, but also to spread it even further.

To deal with this, the Spanish police have turned to a solution previously used by authorities in China as well: drones that patrol the largest cities and yell at people to go home.

A video published by the BBC shows that drones are equipped with microphones, which the police officers use to talk to people on the street, urging them to stay indoors.

Whether or not this solution would be efficient is something that remains to be seen, but for now, the drones at least help raise awareness of the risks everyone faces when going outside.

The coronavirus fight

At the time of writing, Spain has over 14,700 confirmed cases of infection with the new coronavirus, with 638 total deaths. There are a little over 1,000 cases of people who already recovered.

Spain, however, is the second country in Europe as far as the number of confirmed infections is concerned. Italy is by far the most affected state with nearly 36,000 cases, while Spain and Germany come next.

China remains the region with the biggest number of cases – 80,928 infected people, 3,245 deaths, and 7,263 active cases.

The typical recommendations remain valid for everyone living in a region affected by the new coronavirus: just stay home as much as possible, wash your hands on every occasion, and avoid staying close to other people whenever you leave the house.