Walmart to Test Drone Delivery of COVID-19 Test Kits

Walmart is testing drone delivery of COVID-19 test kits. Because apparently the future is now and it involves buzzing machines dropping medical supplies in your yard.

The pilot program will operate in select areas to see if drone delivery can speed up access to testing. For people in less dense areas where the nearest pharmacy is a drive this could genuinely help.

Walmart announced the pilot with their drone delivery partner.

The logistics are simpler than you might think. Test kit goes in drone. Drone flies to address. Drone drops package. Customer takes test and mails it back through normal channels.

Technology adoption often accelerates during crises. COVID pushed drone delivery from novelty to necessity in some use cases.

Weather limitations exist obviously. Drones dont fly in storms. Range is limited. But for the right situations in the right places this makes sense.

The FAA has been loosening drone regulations which enables these tests. What was impossible a few years ago is now merely complicated.

Whether drone delivery becomes mainstream depends on scaling these pilots successfully. Test kits today could be prescriptions tomorrow could be groceries eventually.

Pilot announced September 2020