The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)is investigating a drone that flew overNew York City’s East River Promenade.and encouraged pedestriansto maintain a distance of 6 feet,the New York Post reports.On April 5, CBS shared footage of adrone hovering over the water whileinstructing pedestrians to follow thecity’s social distancing guidelines.“This is the anti-COVID-19 volunteerdrone task force,” the craft announcesin the video.
“Please maintain a socialdistance of at least 6 feet”."Reduce the death toll and save lives.For your own safety and your family’ssafety, please maintain social distancing”.As the drone relays the message,the pedestrians — many of whom don’thave masks on — seem unconcerned.The clip has sincebeen retweeted morethan 7,500 times.“NYC has the largest corona outbreak inthe US, yet its citizens aren’t staying homeand don’t seem overly worried about socialdistancing,” one person asked in response.“WTF is going on in our country?!?”another commented.
“I feel like I’m in abad dystopian movie … creepy”.The FAA told the Post that “it islooking into the drone flight todetermine if it was compliant withFederal Aviation Regulations”.while adding that the agencyhad “no jurisdiction over themessage broadcast by the drone”.According to the Gothamist,operating drones over large partsof New York — including almostall of Manhattan — is illegal.The city has also increased finesfrom $500 to $1,000 on those whodon’t follow social distancing rules.In other parts of the world,drones have been similarlydeployed to enforce guidelines asthey pertain to the health crisis.Authorities in China, for instance,have used drones in both large citiesand rural villages to tell residents tostay home or wear masks.Police in Belgium and Spainhave also employed drones
