July 16, 2021
published at 5:28 AMReuters
A drone is operated to monitor the capacity to prevent overcrowding at beaches in Sitges, Spain, July 15, 2021.
Reuters
SITGES, Spain, July 15 - With a summer heatwave sending hordes of people to the beach, authorities in the northeastern Spanish seaside town of Sitges are trialling the use of drones to monitor crowds in real-time and counter a rapid rise in Covid-19 contagion.
"It's a pioneering system," said Ricardo Monje, a drone operator with the project's developer Annunzia ES. "We can take photos, pass them through some software and with the software we can count how many people are on the beach."