Exclusive: UPS pilots try rapid COVID test to avoid Hong Kong quarantines FDA reviewing Covi-Stix from Sorrento Therapeutics for public use UPS cargo jets at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) UPS Airlines pilots are testing themselves for COVID midflight, using a novel rapid antigen device that has yet to be approved by the U.S., and sending the results ahead to Hong Kong in an effort to avoid lengthy government quarantines on arrival, FreightWaves has learned. Text messages between UPS pilots. The express carrier is participating in a trial of the Covi-Stix detection kit manufactured by Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRNE) to support Food and Drug Administration authorization and prevent pilots flying from the company’s Anchorage hub from being isolated against their will in Hong Kong, according to an internal email shared with FreightWaves.