US: Connecticut town plans quarantine enforcement via fever-detecting drones
New versions of drones that currently issue audio warnings reminding people in Elizabeth, New Jersey to observe social distancing guidelines will incorporate sensors and fever-detecting cameras that will monitor if people are sick or failing to social distance on the trails and in the parks of Meriden, Connecticut, according to the commercial drone company Draganfly, which claims the cameras can also detect sneezing and heart and respiratory rates. The company expects to conduct pilot programmes across the US in April 2020, including one in the New York tri-state area.
Following protests from the ACLU and others, the Westport Police Department decided to scrap the drone programme, acknowledging that according to public health experts the urgent need is not for surveillance technologies but for testing, social distancing, and support for hospitals.
Sources:
https://abc7ny.com/coronavirus-drones-covid-19-pandemic-nj/6102905/
Writer: Dan Krauth
Publication: ABC News
Publication date: 15/04/2020
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/connecticut-town-grounds-drone-program-to-fight-coronavirus-amid-outcry/ar-BB13c517
Writer: Robert Gearty
Publication: Fox News (via MSN)
Publication date: 2020-04-25