Walmart drones to carry virus test kits

FILE - This June 25, 2019, file photo shows the entrance to a Walmart in Pittsburgh.
FILE - This June 25, 2019, file photo shows the entrance to a Walmart in Pittsburgh.

Walmart Inc. is adding to its drone delivery trials with a pilot project delivering covid-19 self-collection testing kits to customers' homes.

Delivery of the kits began Tuesday in North Las Vegas, Nev., and will start in Cheektowaga, N.Y., in early October, the company said in a news release. Walmart is working with private laboratory Quest Diagnostics and drone services provider DroneUp for the trials.

Recipients won't be charged for either the delivery or the kits, the company said.

Tom Ward, Walmart's senior vice president of customer product, called the pilot program "an innovative new way to provide additional, and contactless, testing options."

Walmart began testing drone delivery of groceries and household goods in Fayetteville, N.C., earlier this month. Then on Sept. 14, the retailer said it will start a pilot program in Northwest Arkansas early next year.

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