Would Social Distancing Bring About Ease of Drone Restrictions?

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People around the world are looking at new technological ways to deal with social distancing due to the coronavrius pandemic. The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is under pressure to expand drone deliveries to help limit person-to-person contact and slow the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.

According to washingtonexaminer.com, the pressure comes from drone advocacy groups asking the FAA to authorize delivery drones for various purposes. The FAA said it had received inquiries to expand drone operations to combat the coronavirus spread.

Increased drone use would lower the risk of spreading the virus because fewer people would touch the packages that are being delivered to homes and elsewhere, said Ashkhen Kazaryan, the director of civil liberties at the technology think tank TechFreedom, which examines legal and policy questions raised by changes in technology, including drone usage. “There’s a lot of possibilities for contamination, whereas with drones delivery, no one is touching it aside from the person packing the drone and the person receiving the package,” she said, adding that “some of the other countries have been implementing more drones to mitigate risks associated with person-to-person contact.”

She said that Amazon has been testing drone deliveries in the United Kingdom because the FAA rules are too restrictive.