In a rare step, the Palestinian municipality of Beit Ummar uses camera drones to deliver vitamins to COVID-19 patients in the West Bank city of Hebron to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Attached to a basket, the supplements and medications are then distributed between those seeking medical attention, who cannot leave their homes.
Ahmed al-Alami, an official of the municipality’s public relations and information department, told Xinhua that the drones have proven to be a useful tool to contain the spread of the disease.
“The patients can still get all the medicine and supplements, including vitamin C and Zinc, that will strengthen their immunity without leaving the comforts of their homes and exposing others to the disease,” he said.
“The medications are delivered to the roofs of their homes or at their doorsteps,” he added.
However, the initiative also carries a psychological benefit as the delivery gives a morale boost to that they are not alone in their battle against the disease.
Since the coronavirus outbreak in the Palestinian territories four months ago, the town of Beit Ummar which is home to 20,000 people, has registered 140 cases, according to the town mayor Nasri Sabarna.
According to the town’s health authority, it has 40 active cases recently, 98 recovered and two dead.
“We have resorted to using the drone after a number of municipality crews were infected with the virus when they provided dietary supplements directly to the infected patients while visiting them at their homes,” he said.
Apart from medicine, the municipality is also working on providing parcels and food packages to the homes of those infected, in addition to carrying out almost daily sterilization operations on the streets and health institutions.
Since mid-June, the Palestinian Authority has been confronted with the second wave of infections, with a significant increase in COVID-19 cases.
Palestine has so far registered 11,882 cases of COVID-19, with 70 virus-related deaths.
Half of the confirmed cases were reported in the last three weeks in the Palestinian districts of the West Bank, particularly Hebron, the Health Ministry said.
Leith al-Salibi from Beit Ummar was one of those patients who got the vitamins through the drone.
“To get your dietary supplements was a rare and new experience for me,” the 35-year-old father of three told Xinhua, as he stood on the roof of his house to receive the vitamins.
“When I was confirmed as infected with the virus, I did not believe it and did not adhere to the governmental precautionary and protective measures which negatively affected my health,” the young man explained.
Nevertheless, once his health condition worsened, the young man was forced to quarantine himself, taking his medicine and vitamins delivered by the drone.
“We are facing a hazardous second wave of the virus, so we must abide by the precautionary and protective measures,” the young man said.
