Amazon partners with Washington for the distribution of 5.5 million COVID-19 in-home kits following the surge in cases that reached 1 million. The all-time high count prompted many firms to roll out rapid tests to the household in the states.
Amazon Teams Up With Washington
According to Geekwire's report, the e-commerce giant is preparing to extend a helping hand to the families in the state by delivering 3.5 million rapid tests. Gov. Jay Inslee confirmed this news on Wednesday, Jan. 5 during a media briefing.
Aside from the distribution, the Seattle tech titan will store the test kits and create an online portal for the COVID-19 test records.
"Amazon is pleased to bring needed COVID tests to individuals and families across Washington state through this partnership with Governor Inslee's office to leverage our warehousing, logistics, package tracking, and last-mile delivery network," VP of Amazon distribution and fulfillment services, Gopal Pillai told Geekwire.
Washington is planning to start making the portal available in mid-January. This would allow the individuals to order test kits to their doorstep. Every house is set to receive a kit containing five (5) at-home rapid tests.
Per Washington's Department of Health, Elizabeth Perez, the collaboration of the state with Amazon is a great partnership because of their business model in line with home product deliveries.
For the part of Washington, Seattle's King County said that it already procured 700,000 test kits for the cause.
Related Article: Amazon Allegedly Collected Biometric Data Without Consent In Its COVID Wellness Checks
'Say Tes, COVID Test' Program in Washington
Aside from Amazon, CareEvolution, one of the leading healthcare service providers, will be helping Washington with the distribution of COVID-19 kits. The company launched its "Say Yes COVID Test!" program in the state last November.
In 2021, the tech titan managed the pickups and delivery processes for the COVID-19 at-home kits as part of the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network.
Pricier Coronavirus Test Kits
As the demand for quick testing has surged, the daily case count for coronavirus hit one million in the United States earlier this week.
With that, the prices for the at-home rapid tests in Walmart and Kroger suddenly spiked. USA Today reported that on Tuesday, Jan. 4, the price of the Abbott BinaxNOW kits increased to $19.88 after the holidays.
On the other hand, the two-test BinaxNOW antigen kits at Krogen now sit at a price of $23.99.
Meanwhile, a COVID-19 Mask with a cooling fan appeared on the first day of CES 2022, per Tech Times.
The news outlet also reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) recently discovered a new coronavirus variant called IHU (B.1.640.2). It was first found out in a visitor who went to Cameroon. The patient returned to France after a visit to Central Africa.
Tom Peacock, a virologist based in the Imperial College London said that the new variant is not "worth worrying" at the moment. As usual, the expert reminded the individuals to follow the health protocols when visiting places outside.
Read Also: COVID Exposure Notifications Used Less Despite Omicron Variant in the Country; Do You Need It?
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
