Coronavirus USA Update: Amazon To Deliver And Pick Up At-Home COVID-19 Test Kits In Seattle

Amazon will team up with a research effort called the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN) to pick up and deliver coronavirus test kits in Seattle's King County.

According to CNBC, Amazon Care will assist SCAN in delivery and logistics of these COVID-19 test kits. Amazon Care is the subsidiary of the company, which provides medical care to its employees.

The test kits will be delivered to people who are asymptomatic, or feeling ill, and after that Amazon Care representative will pick up the samples for further analysis. In case, the results come positive, a health care worker will get in touch with the patient.

The spokesperson for Amazon Care confirmed that this involvement is only limited to Amazon Care. The spokesperson stated that all the couriers are highly trained in handling medical items.

Earlier, it had been announced that a research effort funded by the Gates Foundation will offer home-testing COVID-19 kits. SCAN, a Gates Foundation-backed project, is now up for the task.

Scott Dowell, coronavirus response leader at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke with Seattle Times. “One of the most important things from our perspective, having watched and worked on this in other parts of the world, is the identification of people who are positive for the virus, so they can be safely isolated and cared for, and the identification of their contacts, who can then be quarantined.”

Seattle & King County reported 87 deaths from the coronavirus Monday. It has 1,170 positive COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, the statewide coronavirus death count stands at 110.

According to John Hopkins University, more than 16,000 people have died globally from the coronavirus pandemic. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stands at 382,108. Close to 100,000 people have recovered from the illness.

The World Health Organization is trying its best to deliver reliable information to people. WHO joined hands with WhatsApp to deliver authentic coronavirus news and updates. “Our new WhatsApp Health Alert has now attracted 10 million users since we launched it last Friday – this is just in 4 days –delivering reliable health information directly to their mobile phones. Details on how to sign up are on the front page of our website. The Arabic, French and Spanish versions will be launched this week, and this is the best way to be connected directly with people,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his opening remarks on March 23.