France uses drones to fight coronavirus
Normally used for agricultural purposes, the drone, dubbed DJI Agras and operated by French company Flying Eye, carries disinfecting solution on its reservoir and sprays it while in flight. Operators tried the drone's first urban disinfection operation on Friday in Cannes, a first in France.
The drone complements regular street disinfection operations in Cannes, which started on March 25 and involves city workers in protective suits spraying diluted bleach solution in streets.
Cannes officials plan to evaulate the effects of the disinfection, and said they might hold another drone clean-up one week before the end of the coronavirus lockdown. No official date has been established for the end of the nationwide confinement.
In the region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'azur, 251 people have died in hospital since the beginning of the new coronavirus epidemic, France's health agency said.
