Plans are reportedly being chalked out for a pilot program which will see Amazon deliver throat swabs to people's homes for testing, and the swabs will be picked up an hour later and the test results will be sent electronically through text message and email within two days, notifying if the person is positive or negative for coronavirus.
The pilot project is reportedly to begin sometime during May in the United Kingdom and if successful, will spread across Europe and the United States. The report states that the e-commerce giant will deliver "using Amazon logistics" and the test will differ from the previous attempts to create a home-based test that shows antibodies to coronavirus.
However, Amazon has not released a statement regarding the home delivery of test kits and a spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care did not confirm the report either. Insiders claim that Amazon will soon release an official statement only when everything is put in place. The news comes just a day after the lockdown restrictions were extended for three more weeks in the UK.
Testing is ramped up across the UK
The United Kingdom has ramped up testing across the country and the Prime Minister's official spokesman said that in the last 24 hours, 15,994 people were tested in England, Scotland and Wales. The spokesman revealed that the total testing capacity includes 20,771 in public facilities and a further 14,300 through commercial testing amenities.
The spokesman stated that the testing capacity will be significantly increased to a much higher number of about 75,000 to 100,000 tests per day. ''I see significant investments being made in mass testing centres that are planning to conduct 75,000 of the 100,000 tests a day. These facilities would be a welcome resource and take the pressure off the NHS if the issue around testing was one of capacity. However, we are clear that it is a global supply shortage holding biomedical scientists back, not a lack of capacity."
"We have been very clear that where there is spare capacity available that should be used on NHS staff, on their families, and in social care. The 17,000 NHS laboratory workers that I represent are increasingly expressing their frustration. They have applied themselves innovatively to increase COVID-19 testing capacity and have the platforms ready so that the NHS laboratories are able to meet the Secretary of State's ambitious target, but they are still not able to source the testing kits and reagents they require,'' the spokesperson summed it up.
