Researchers in the UK want the country to start using drones to disinfect public places, saying it could help fight COVID-19.

The team from Harper Adams University says agricultural drones can be used to disinfect areas around schools and hospitals for example, or emergency service vehicles.

The idea is to regularly clean surfaces to prevent any spread of infections. According to U.S. researchers, the virus can live on hard, shiny surfaces for up to 72 hours.

If approved, the drones could be rolled out in the UK "within two weeks," according to Jonathan Gill, a robotics engineer and drone expert from Harper Adams

"Machines are designed to do dull, dirty and dangerous jobs. Let's get the machines out there to start targeting those areas and covering those areas a lot quicker and more effectively than actually putting operators with knapsack sprayers on and literally having to cover themselves in full PPE," Gill said.

China used the machines to try to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, with other countries such as Italy, South Korea and Vietnam also ordering and flying the drones recently, according to XAG, a Chinese manufacturer of the robots.

The firm is an agricultural drone producer and its products are usually used in rural settings to spray pesticides and fertilizers on plants.

"Since this coronavirus break-out, in February, we launched a nationwide disinfection operation across 20 of China's provinces and we deployed about 2,600 drones during these operations, covering about 902 million square metres," said Justin Gong, co-founder of XAG.

The UK government seems less keen on the idea. As the country gears up for a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks, its priority in the fight against coronavirus lies elsewhere.

In a statement to CGTN Europe, a spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care said: "The expert advice is that disinfecting outdoor spaces would not be an effective use of resources. We want to focus our efforts and resources on measures which have been recommended by scientific experts to have the most benefit in protecting the NHS and saving lives."

Most of the disinfecting taking place in the UK is currently done by hand. Using drones could free up those workers and the safety equipment they use – a key consideration in a country that is facing a huge shortage of PPE supplies.

"One drone can spray around 700,000 square metres per day. So that's the efficiency of the drone spray. It's about 100 workers on the ground [in terms of] labor force," said Gong.

Are they safe?

As drones are unmanned, safety is a key concern. Gill says those risks can be mitigated: "Let's get this very clear, this is a spray tool. It doesn't have the same set of cameras on it that's required for anything that's starting to capture imagery. This is designed to have cameras on it to make sure it has bump detection and doesn't fly into obstacles."

Gill and his team are hoping they can move ahead with securing official approval for the use of the spraying drones, and are in talks with the UK's Civil Aviation Authority and the Health and Safety Executive.

It might be a while before they're up in British skies, but these flying robots are becoming a hi-tech feature in the battle against this modern-day pandemic.

[This article was updated on 04/04/2020 to correct the spelling of the author's name and a reference to the number of provinces in China]