---
title: "In China, Drones Are Yelling at People About Coronavirus [UPDATED]"
description: "A bizarre video shows how Chinese police have started using drones to scream at people who go outside without a safety mask about the coronavirus."
date: "2020-01-31"
modified: "2020-01-31"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/china-drones-yell-coronavirus"
categories:
  - "Developments"
  - "Drones"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
  - "Pathogens"
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
  - "Viruses"
tags:
  - "2019-ncov"
  - "china"
  - "drones"
---

# In China, Drones Are Yelling at People About Coronavirus \[UPDATED\]

![A bizarre video shows how Chinese police have started using drones to scream at people who go outside without a safety mask about the coronavirus.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/china-drones-scream-coronavirus.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

It's not clear who's operating them, but drones in China are reportedly searching for people walking around without masks and using loudspeakers to loudly urge them to stay home.

A [video](<http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1178119.shtml>) on the stated-owned newspaper *Global Times* shows a woman dressed as a police officer talking into a walkie talkie, seemingly broadcasting messages through a drone to warn of imminent danger due to the [coronavirus 2019-nCoV](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/symptoms-of-coronavirus>).

Details, though, remain hazy, and the *Global Times* video contains little in the way of explanation. Podcaster Carol Yin [wrote on Twitter](<https://twitter.com/CarolYujiaYin/status/1223286944857120770>) that at least part of the video appears to be a Chinese influencer rather than an official authority.

https://twitter.com/CarolYujiaYin/status/1223286944857120770

Regardless, the clip is bizarre — it shows drone footage tailing an older woman while chiding her through a speaker to stay home unless she wears a mask, then switches to similar warnings given to other residents. The last person the drone admonishes in the footage is a small child.

"The coronavirus is very serious… Run!!" read the translated subtitles.

The virus [has spread](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/timeline-china-viral-outbreak-spread-worldwide>) to every region of China since the first cases were confirmed in December, and now [over 200 people](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/coronavirus-death-toll-graph>) have died as a result.

*Editor's note 1/31/2020: This article has been updated to reflect uncertainty regarding about who is behind the drone videos.*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)