Walmart to deliver self-collection COVID-19 tests through drones

The coronavirus pandemic is still on and one of the effective ways to contain the virus is by conducting more tests. A delay in the testing process can lead to a faster spread of the virus. However, as the number of cases continue to increase people are worried about stepping out in the crowd to get themselves tested. This particular worry has now been addressed by e-commerce giant Walmart. People who live near the Walmart store of North Las Vegas will be able to have the facility.

On September 22, 2020 Walmart has launched a pilot drone delivery program that will drop the self-collection COVID-19 tests to homes. The tests will be deliverable within one mile radius of the North Las Vegas Store. The customers who have placed an order will get a text from DroneUp after the Quest Diagnostics has sent the kit and is on the way. The delivery will depend on the number of trees and cars in the locality and will be dropped on the driveways, backyards or frontside walks of people.

If the delivery takes only about 5 minutes then it will be free. After the customer receives the testing kit, they can take the samples themselves , which can then be sent to a Quest lab through FedEx. The results of the tests will be sent to the customers digitally. It can take about two days for the results to be delivered. This is a great attempt by Walmart to encourage contactless and faster delivery for a service which is trending at the moment due to the pandemic crisis.

Tom Ward, the senior vice president of consumer products at Walmart has said that they hope that the self-collection kits and the service of drone delivery will also lead to contactless testing capabilities on a big scale. However, for now not many Americans will be able to have the drone delivery facility of the COVID-19 tests kits.

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