Walmart piloting drone delivery of at-home COVID-19 self-collection tests
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev., - Since the beginning of the pandemic, Walmart has remained focused on serving our communities, be it through innovating around contactless ways to shop or through our COVID-19 testing. The health and safety of our associates and customers has been our top priority, and we’ve remained dedicated to supporting efforts to expand COVID-19 testing through our drive-thru testing and partnerships with federal and state governments, labs and insurance companies, Tom Ward writes for Walmart. Continue reading original article.
The Intelligent Aerospace take:
September 25, 2020 - "Patients who qualify for drone delivery of the COVID-19 self-collection kits must live in a single-family residence within a 1-mile radius of the designated Supercenters in North Las Vegas and Cheektowaga," informs Tom Ward, who is Walmart's senior vice president of customer products. "The kits will land on the driveway, front sidewalk, or backyard of the customer’s home, depending on where there are cars and trees. There is no delivery or kit cost for customers electing to receive an at-home kit delivered via drone. Once the kits are delivered, the person will perform a self-administered nasal swab in the privacy of their home and send their sample back to Quest Diagnostics for testing using the included prepaid shipping label."
Walmart joins corporate giants CVS and UPS among others who have embraced unmanned aerial vehicles as a solution for delivering medical and consumer goods to residences as the FAA has begun allowing such deliveries in select communities.
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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace