Robot dogs with loudspeakers strapped to their backs and drones are patrolling the streets and skies of Shanghai to help enforce a lockdown on the city’s 26 million residents aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.
The Chinese city has imposed a two-stage lockdown, which heavily restricts movement in half of the population on alternating days to allow a mass testing programme. It recorded more than 30,000 cases in March, far fewer than are recorded in other countries but at odds with Beijing’s “zero-COVID” strategy.
A new video out of the city shows a robot dog scuttling down a residential street barking out orders and reminding people to stay inside their homes.
The streets of Shanghai, which has a population of over 26 million, are completely deserted.