---
title: "Walmart Is Delivering COVID Tests Via Drone"
description: "During its latest drone delivery trial, retail giant Walmart started delivering at-home COVID-19 tests in North Las Vegas. "
date: "2020-09-22"
modified: "2020-09-22"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/walmart-delivering-covid-tests-via-drone"
categories:
  - "Drones"
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid19"
  - "the digest"
  - "walmart"
---

# Walmart Is Delivering COVID Tests Via Drone

![During its latest drone delivery trial, retail giant Walmart started delivering at-home COVID-19 tests in North Las Vegas. ](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/walmart-delivering-covid-tests-via-drone.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Walmart\</em\>*

## Loot Drop

During its latest drone delivery trial, retail giant Walmart has [started delivering](<https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/09/22/walmart-now-piloting-drone-delivery-of-covid-19-at-home-self-collection-kits>) at-home COVID-19 tests.

The company started making deliveries of test kits in Las Vegas today. A second trial in Cheektowaga, New York will start in early October. Customers will have to live at most one mile from a designated Walmart Supercenter in either location to have their testing kits delivered by drone.

The kits will be delivered "on the driveway, front sidewalk, or backyard of the customer’s home, depending on where there are cars and trees," according to a [press release](<https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/09/22/walmart-now-piloting-drone-delivery-of-covid-19-at-home-self-collection-kits>).

## Swab Goals

The customer then has to swab their nose with one of the included swabs, seal it up, and send it back to Quest Diagnostics, the testing company Walmart partnered with, using an included prepaid shipping label.

According to Quest, customers will find out if they're negative or positive for the virus in [about two days](<https://newsroom.questdiagnostics.com/COVIDTestingUpdates>).

The news comes after Walmart [kicked off](<https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/09/09/walmart-now-piloting-on-demand-drone-delivery-with-flytrex>) its drone delivery pilot, a collaboration with drone delivery company Flytrex, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The trial was limited to select grocery and household essential items from the retailer’s local stores.

**READ MORE:** [Walmart's latest drone trial delivers at-home COVID-19 tests](<https://www.engadget.com/walmart-covid-19-tests-drone-delivery-trial-180718125.html>) \[*Engadget*\]

**More on Walmart:** *[Walmart Just Started Delivering Stuff With Drones](<https://www.engadget.com/walmart-covid-19-tests-drone-delivery-trial-180718125.html>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)