Customer Experience

Latvia introduces vending machine to offer COVID-19 testing

December 10, 2020

A vending machine that issues coronavirus tests and stores samples has been installed in a Latvian hospital, as the Baltic state turns to automation to help contain the pandemic's spread, according to a Reuters report.

Users spit saliva into a container and place it back in the machine. A vending machine at a hospital in Riga, Latvia, dispenses swab tests for coronavirus and collects samples, according to Reuters . The results are available within 24 hours.

The vending machine at the Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital is the first of 100 planned for nationwide rollout.

The cost of the machine at the hospital is covered by the government, but other machines will charge 53 euros ($64) per test.

The machine removes the need for two to five medical workers that would otherwise be needed to administer the tests, and prevents infection risk, said Didzis Gavars of the E. Gulbja Laboratory.

For an update on how the coronavirus pandemic has affected kiosks, click here.

Images courtesy of E. Gulbja Laboratory.