Page 38 - A U4SSC deliverable - Accelerating city transformation using frontier technologies

In focus – tackling the novel coronavirus situation - June 2020, Telangana (India)

With the advent of the global novel Coronavirus pandemic, many countries have adopted the modality
of “lockdowns” to contain it. India, which featured among the top ten countries most affected by the
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pandemic in June 2020, adopted a five-phase lockdown framework, which is monitored and reviewed
as the country continues to grapple with the pandemic. Being the second most populous country
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in the world, the implementation of the lockdown has been a challenging proposition for the country’s
administration. It has been estimated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals have been able
to accommodate only 30 per cent of the COVID-19 cases in terms of testing, as well as for in-patient
treatment. Given that the healthcare system in India is inching its way towards being valued at USD
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275 billion, the country’s performance in dealing with the pandemic still needs to be improved.
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In such circumstances, drones are being utilised to monitor the functional and non-functional
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constraints of ongoing operations relating to containing the spread of the novel Coronavirus. In the
state of Telangana, the state government has employed over 40 drones for the following tasks:

• Disinfection: Drones can be used to disinfect large-scale public spaces, including bus stations,
airports and hospitals as they can cover more than 60 times the area covered by traditional
methods. This also reduces the risk of exposure of sanitation workers and other staff who are
deployed on the ground.
• Provision of medical supplies: Drones allow the quick delivery of life-saving medication around
50 times faster than conventional methods to hospitals as well as to homes, thereby ensuring easy
access to medication during the pandemic.
• Crowd control: Drones are being used for patrolling and for delivering public announcements
related to COVID-19. 103

These activities are being spearheaded by the Government of India, together with the public health
system in the state of Telangana, the World Economic Forum and drone-based tech start-ups. With
the success of this model, other states, including New Delhi and Kerala will also be deploying similar
drone-based technologies to identify and track infections, which will help in diagnosing the virus and
administering the required medical intervention to level off the COVID-19 growth curve in the country.

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