Walgreens is launching its own COVID-19 Index to track COVID-19 variant cases across the U.S. The research will come from positive test results tracked at the retailer’s 5,000 locations. Dr. Kevin Ban, chief medical officer for Walgreens, pointed to testing as a means to deal with the pandemic. “I’m not saying this is the definitive end-all, but this is the type of direction we need to take as a country so that we can identify and better understand what’s happening, where it’s happening, and what are the mitigation techniques that we can take in order to decrease the spread of the virus,” he said.