'Hey pretty ladies, put on your masks!' China’s drone army tackles coronavirus by ordering people to wear protection or return home and spraying disinfectant over villages and cities

• Vigilantes and government officials are using the drones to enforce precautions
• Drones have been filmed telling people to put on their mask or go home
• Clips believed to have been taken in Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Shandon and Zhejiany

China's drone army has swooped on the nation's virus-stricken streets to warn citizens to wear face masks or go home, as other drones have sprayed disinfectants over virus-stricken villages and cities.

Vigilantes and government officials have reportedly used speakers on drones to hound others, as coronavirus spreads to every region of the communist state.

Footage published by a government-run newspaper shows people being told to 'go home' by drones to avoid the virus or put on their face masks.

Another clip distributed by the state shows silent drones spraying disinfectant over cars and on pavements. 

It is thought that the machines were filmed ordering people around in Inner Mongolia, and spraying disinfectant in the coastal provinces of Jilin, Shandon and Zhejiany.

The first clip starts with a grandmother, reportedly in Inner Mongolia, looking up at a drone as it tells her in Chinese: 'You shouldn't walk about without wearing a mask. Yes, you'd better go back home and don't forget to wash your hands.'

It also shows people crossing a road as a drone bellows instructions.

'The dude with a pink coat on your motorbike! Yeah, you! Please put on your mask,' says one.

A policewoman is also alleged to have used a drone-mounted speaker to tell a group of women crossing the street: 'Hey, pretty young ladies eating and walking! Put on your masks! You can go home and eat!'

And other footage published by the state has captured drones hovering several metres above the ground as disinfectant liquid is sprayed from the underside of each machine.

It is hoped that the disinfectant will prevent the killer virus from spreading further although it is not yet known how effective this will be.

The video of drones ordering around citizens was published by state-run Global Times with the caption: 'Walking around without a protective face mask? Well, you can't avoid these sharp-tongued drones!

'Many villages and cities in China are using drones equipped with speakers to patrol during the coronavirus outbreak.'

Vigilantes in Caowu village, Inner Mongolia, are using drones as a 'prevention and control measures', reports The Beijing News.

A photographer, Guo Junjie, also allowed a village committee to use a drone to monitor an old man who had left his home without a mask. 

The first secretary of Caofang village, Inner Mongolia, where drones are also being used, said they are helping to keep the elderly indoors who have 'a weak awareness of prevention and control'.

Drones have also been pictured spraying disinfectant in China, as they have allegedly proved to be a faster method of administering the chemicals than lorry or foot delivery.

One villager in the city of Heze, Shandong, offered his personal drone which was used to disinfect an area of 16,000 square metres (172,000 square feet) in a single morning. 

Agricultural and police patrol drones have also reportedly been repurposed in China's south-western Sichuan Province to release disinfectant in areas not otherwise easily accessible such as roofs, gardens, skyscrapers and gated communities.

Crop protection officer Qin Chunhong, from the village of Longfu, Sichuan, reportedly disinfected his village on January 30 using his own drone.

He said: 'Drones can cover a much wider area and achieve very good disease prevention results.

'As disinfectant is harmless to humans, it doesn't affect anyone's daily life.'

At least 213 people with the virus are now confirmed to have died and more than 9,800 have been infected in at least 24 countries and regions – a death rate of around two per cent.   

The respiratory disease presenting with similar symptoms to pneumonia is now a global health crisis, the World Health Organization declared yesterday. 

The highly contagious virus, which can cause pneumonia, is spread with a cough or sneeze.

But it may also be spread on surfaces such as tables or hand rails on public transport - which makes it an extremely contagious infection. 

There is no cure for human coronaviruses but people can reduce their risk of infection by keeping their hands clean. Scientists are working on a vaccine but this is unlikely to be available until summer.