These drones drop PPE and COVID-19 test samples to medical facilities using tiny parachutes — here's how it works
The deliveries, using drones from Zipline, are the first long-range drone logistics flights approved by the FAA.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more storiesSan Francisco company Zipline is using drones in new ways in healthcare to face the threat of coronavirus. Through a partnership with Novant Health, a non-profit healthcare system in North Carolina, Zipline has used long-range drones to deliver PPE to providers.
Zipline got a special FAA waiver for these trips, which are the first of their kind in the US. As more routes are approved, the company has plans to expand deliveries to other clinics and even to patients' homes. It also carried out similar work in Ghana and Rwanda, using drones for contactless transportation of COVID-19 test samples from rural areas to cities with labs to get results in a timely fashion.
throughout one retirement community in Florida, but these were short deliveries of only about half a mile to a central location in the community. On the other hand, Zipline is carrying out the first long-range deliveries, right to the locations where they are needed.So far, the FAA has approved two routes, totaling between 20 and 30 miles round trip.Zipline drones operate out of an emergency drone fulfillment center in Kannapolis, North Carolina.Zipline delivery drone.
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