Walmart Pilots Delivery of At-Home COVID-19 Self-Collection Kits Through Drones

Walmart Inc. has recently announced that it would launch a project to deliver self-collection COVID-19 test kits through automated drones.

Walmart is to “test-deliver collection kits in north Las Vegas from Tuesday,” Fox Business reported. In early October, it has also planned to conduct trials in Cheektowaga, New York. The retail corporation will do this with its partners, Quest Diagnostics and DroneUp.

“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,” wrote Tom Ward, Senior Vice President for Customer Product at Walmart. “The health and safety of our associates and customers has been our top priority,” he then added. “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,” Ward also stated.

According to Fox Business, the retailer has piloted drone delivery of grocery and household products. It serviced Fayetteville, North Carolina earlier this month.

The drones will reportedly drop the self-collection kits on driveways, front sidewalks, or backyards. It will do so within a one-mile radius of designated Walmart stores.

“We hope drone delivery of self-collection kits will shape contactless testing capabilities on a larger scale and continue to bolster the innovative ways Walmart plans to use drone delivery in the future,” wrote Ward.

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