Rapid RT-PCR tests for at-risk travellers at Vijayawada airport

Vijayawada: AP health authorities are carrying out rapid RT-PCR tests for Covid-19 on international travellers arriving at the Vijayawada International Airport (VIA) directly from ‘at-risk’ nations or on connecting flights.

The results are available in two to three hours, and those testing negative are allowed to leave. Those testing positive are sent to quarantine.

For travellers coming from non-at-risk nations, the health authorities are conducting the RT-PCR test in the regular mode, and it takes five to six hours to get the result.

The VIA handles nine international flight arrivals from Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Muscat, Singapore carrying hundreds of international travellers. Some arriving passengers carry Covid negative reports taken 72 hours previously.

Airport officials said they were finding it difficult to accommodate a large number of international travellers till the test results were available. As it is not known who is infected, great stress is laid on physical distancing.

In one case, two international travellers tested negative and were allowed to leave. They were found to be Covid-19 positive, and genome sequencing found them to be infected with the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus.

This, officials said, underlined the need for both airport and state health authorities to maintain a high-level vigil on all international passengers irrespective of their originating nation to ensure that there is no spead of Covid-19.

Vijayawada International Airport director P.V. Rama Rao said, “We are carrying out RT-PCR tests on international travellers arriving especially from risk nations on fast track mode to give them test result in two to three hours so that they will be allowed to leave the airport if tested Covid negative and to be sent to quarantine if tested Covid positive, with an aim to minimise the chance for the   spread of Coronavirus to others.”