Chinese delivery giant JD has joined the fight against the spread of the coronavirus.  JD.com reports that the company flew two drones spraying disinfectant in Ordos City, an important industrial city in Inner Mongolia, China.

“With an increasing number of people returning back to work from their hometowns following the Spring Festival holiday, JD’s drones have helped the city strengthen its protective measures against the coronavirus,” writes JD.com’s Ling Cao.

The mission plan involved two drones, each carrying 10 liters of disinfectant spray at a time, to cover specific areas in the city.  “With a flight radius of 5km, using drones enables the city to cover a wider and more thorough area than they would be able to cover with human personnel, in a shorter period of time,” says the JD.com article.

Hang Ba, head of JD’s drone program, said, “In addition to supporting last-mile delivery, especially in hard to reach, or closed-off areas, our drones can also help with critical disinfection procedures during the coronavirus period.”

JD is scheduled to complete more drone disinfection missions later in the week.  The company will also provide drone delivery services for some residential areas that have been quaratined during the health crisis: “enabling convenient delivery while minimizing human-to-human contact,” sasy JD.

JD has used their fleet before to support humanitarian and relief efforts, establishing China’s first nationwide drone rescue team in 2018 and supporting disaster relief after major storms.  In this latest effort, drones are being used in innovative ways to prevent the spread of coronavirus.   DJI, drone manufacturers based in Shenzhen, China, have also used spraying drones for humanitarian efforts.

Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
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