Drones come to the rescue in suburban Shanghai district
Workers prepare a drone to deliver necessities to people in need.
Shanghai's Jinshan District has dispatched an unmanned flying fleet to deliver necessities to people in need, providing contact-free items amid the resurgence of COVID-19.
Drones transported 1,200 antigen testing kits to a local medical quarantine and observation site in just 15 minutes on Tuesday afternoon.
Additionally, drones have delivered medicines to people.
"It's so convenient that my employee got his medicine 30 minutes after I requested a delivery," said Luo Xirong, chairman of the Real Time Printing Company.
More than 30 drones have been dispatched to carry out operations, logging more than 500 hours of flying time.
According to Luo, Ji Ruwang, director of the company's manufacturing department, felt sick on Tuesday at noon after days of busy work during which he only got four hours of sleep each night. To make matters worse, he went almost a week without his blood-pressure medication due to a supply shortage.
Luo contacted officials at the industrial park where the company is located for help.
The drones, known as SF Fangzhou X8, can carry 10 kilograms of cargo and fly 20 kilometers. They are used to deliver vital items and carry out disinfection operations across the district, which has compensated for a shortage of volunteers and reduced contact risks, said Xue Bin from the East China UAV Base that houses the drones.
So far, more than 30 drones have been dispatched to carry out operations, logging more than 500 hours of flying time, Xue said.
