Drones, robots and facial recognition: this is how China uses coronavirus technology

Coronavirus is a human drama but also a great technological challenge for governments and companies that must find new ways to contain the damage.

The control of the people who have been in the Hubei area touches the boundaries of science fiction. A resident of Nanjing - who had been in Wehan without telling anyone - received a visit from the police at home inviting him to measure his fever and then be subjected to quarantine. A technological cocktail of data management, artificial intelligence and geolocation identified the ‘offender’ and punished him.

In the Guandong region, on the other hand, robots have sprung up in the streets that ‘scold’ passers-by who do not wear masks, after having identified them through video cameras. Meanwhile, drones have been flying in the skies of Beijing and Shanghai for days, using the speakers shouting ‘directives’ to passers-by: courteous but firm messages on how to deal with the unprecedented epidemic, while other drones are working in the Wuhan area , the one with the highest number of patients, the distribution of drugs and masks, which unfortunately are not enough for the large number of patients. The major telephone operators from China Mobile have sent their users a text message that generates a list of provinces they have visited recently.

Health workers placed at checkpoints outside infected areas ask citizens to show their smartphone to check their latest movements. Coronavirus has become a collegial challenge since the government called all Chinese people to the fight.