A Connecticut police department is using a drone equipped with virus-detecting technology to help battle the COVID-19. The Westport Police Department on Tuesday tested the pandemic drone which can measure body temperatures, read heart rates, and detect for coughing and sneezing to the drone company Dragonfly. The Department also plans to use drone technology to enforce social distancing at beaches, Train stations, parks, and other areas where people congregate.
Westport is located in Fairfield County which is considered the epicenter for the virus outbreak in Connecticut. It’s the state’s closet country to New York City and has almost half of Connecticut’s 20,360 confirmed cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
Police said the goal of the program is to provide better health monitoring support for potential at-risk groups, including the elderly or those with preexisting health conditions.
The Westport Police Department along with first responders around the world are looking for effective ways to ease the spread of COVID-19 and keep their communities safe said Westport Chief Police, Foti Kosakinas.
Due to potential concerns, police said the drone won’t go into individual private years and It doesn’t employ facial recognition technology. Governments and Researchers around the world are working on new solutions for pandemics in the current COVID-19 crisis. The drone has been an important tool for applications including Drone delivery and disinfection but in this project, Canadian drone solutions company Draganfly will act as a systems integrator with a healthcare data services company and researchers in Australia, developing a drone to help health officials immediately identify an outbreak.
