Panipat Administration and JungleWorks collaborate to have drone deliveries for COVID-19 patients

The COVID-19 outbreak has become a global crisis, which has left millions vulnerable, supply lines have collapsed, economies derailed, factories shunted and cities under lockdown. While India continues to tackle this crisis and maintain a nationwide lockdown till April 14, 2020, the Panipat Administration has joined hands with tech giant JungleWorks.

This Chandigarh-based company will be providing drone services to the administration, further enabling them to provide daily essential items to the quarantined people of Panipat. The administration intends to utilise this drone technology to help promote social distancing and support the citizens who are battling the virus.

The Administration along with Jungleworks aim to reduce cross-infection by implementing home delivery of medicines and groceries via drones. These drones are capable of carrying up to four kgs of weight within a distance radius of 5-km from the launch location. To make the delivery contactless, the drone releases the package autonomously through ‘winch mechanism’.

According to a report by GPS World, using drones speeds up transport by 50 per cent, compared to road transportation. In addition to speed, it doesn’t expose human delivery drivers to any risks. Due to the contagiousness of COVID-19, it’s safer if human-to-human contact is minimised.

The administration has quarantined 305 houses and 886 people who are suspected to have contracted COVID-19. They, along with JungleWorks, believe that drone delivery of consumer items can ensure that people have access to food and other goods and make it easier for citizens to keep to recommendations limiting human contact.

“There is tremendous potential and the need for fast diagnosis and fast delivery of medicine to patients will be even more critical to our healthcare systems in the future. During this event, the country will see drones make an impact and these solutions can reshape how we protect and care for people during health emergencies. JungleWorks is pleased and honoured to contribute through its solutions and hopes the world will recover soon from this unanticipated disaster,” said Samar Singla, CEO & Founder, Jungleworks.