Snow cannons that are normally used to top up ski slopes are spraying disinfectant on streets and buildings in the Alps region of Italy in an attempt to kill the coronavirus.

The machines are being repurposed during the crisis and mounted on lorries that go around the towns cleaning the roads before lockdown measures are eased.

Other parts of the world, including France and Tehran, have also sprayed disinfectant in streets in recent weeks.

In Spain, farmers in masks, gloves and protective suits have volunteered to drive tractors loaded with disinfectant through towns and villages.

Last month a drone was used above Indonesia’s second-largest city Surabaya to disperse clouds of disinfectant in the sky, and aerial spraying has been carried out in India and China.



In the town of Val Gardena, Italy, the snow cannons have blasted tons of diluted hydrogen peroxide on roads, walls and buildings.

Italy, which has Europe’s highest death toll from coronavirus, is expected to soon have some lockdown restrictions lifted.

In Spain, neighbours warned one another to keep their pets indoors on days when disinfectant was being sprayed.