Amid strict lockdown, Shanghai firefighters deliver necessities via drone

By Maggie Parkhill

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    TORONTO (CTV Network) — Amid a strict COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, China, local firefighters are using drones to make contactless deliveries of food and other necessities.

China’s most populous city, home to around 25 million people, is at the centre of China’s largest COVID-19 outbreak to date.

Local authorities said on Tuesday another 23,342 people in Shanghai tested positive for the virus over the previous day, just 994 of whom displayed symptoms. Total infections have topped more than 200,000 in the latest wave, although no additional deaths have been reported.

Under the city’s restrictions, no one is allowed to leave their homes, even to buy food. Instead, residents rely on the government or private delivery drivers.

In footage released by Shanghai Fire, firefighters can be seen in head-to-toe personal protective equipment operating a drone that lifts orange bags of necessities into apartment windows.

Delivery services have been stretched thin, with food and other necessities being unavailable or inadequate to demand.

With files from The Associated Press, CNN.

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Sonja Puzic