Zipline, on-demand drone delivery service, has begun delivering COVID-19 test samples in Ghana.
“Zipline drones now fly test samples collected from patients in more than 1,000 health facilities located in difficult to reach rural areas of Ghana to Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research laboratories in Accra, the nation’s capital, and Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR) in Kumasi, the country’s second-largest city,” the company said in a statement.
“Zipline is dedicated to helping Ghana in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo.
He added that using “contactless drone delivery” to transport COVID-19 test samples will allow the government to respond to the pandemic and help save lives more quickly.
The service began on Friday, April 17, when 51 COVID-19 test samples collected from patients at rural health facilities were transported to Zipline’s distribution centre in Omenako, Ghana.
Over the course of four separate flights, each more than 70 miles/116km’s round tip, Zipline delivered the 51 samples to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra for testing and analysis.
The company said it will also be delivering COVID-19 test samples collected at regional hospitals near its Mampong distribution centre to the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research, a nearly 60 mile/100km round trip flight.
The first such delivery took place on Saturday, April 18, 2020.
Source: Citi FM
