Preflight Covid-19 testing is on the rise — the question is whether it works
Can preflight testing get people flying again? The IATA thinks so. Last month, the trade association called for the “development and deployment of rapid, accurate, affordable, easy-to-operate, scalable and systematic” Covid-19 testing for all passengers as a way to restore passenger confidence, bypass quarantines and reopen borders. Within weeks, United, American Airlines and JetBlue announced plans to launch preflight testing programs to places such as Hawaii, Costa Rica and the Caribbean, depending on the airline. By that time, Italy’s largest airline, Alitalia, was already operating two flights between Rome and Milan for passengers who tested negative before boarding. Panama reopened its borders this week to travelers who arrive with a negative Covid-19 test in hand, or who test negative after taking a rapid test upon landing. But testing isn’t quite that simple. Just ask Iceland. When Iceland reopened on June 15, the country exempted travelers from a two-week quarantine if they tested negative for Covid-19 upon arrival. Cases started rising less than a month later. In August, Iceland revised its policy. It now requires two Covid-19 tests — one upon arrival and another five days later — with mandatory quarantining in between. In one of the most high-profile testing fails of the pandemic, a Covid-19 outbreak erupted at the White House this month due in part to its practice of relying on rapid tests to screen visitors. The tests are known to miss up to a third of asymptomatic infections. In calling for preflight testing last month, the IATA said that “deployable solutions are expected in the coming weeks.” Medical experts say that may be premature. Polymerase chain reaction tests, also called PCR, can more accurately diagnose positive cases, said Dr. Peter Gulick, an infectious disease expert at Michigan State University. But those tests, which rely on a nasal swap, throat swab or saliva, “are run in a lab so it may take days to come back, and a patient may get infected during that time,” he said. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-10-15/general/preflight-covid-19-testing-is-on-the-rise-2014-the-question-is-whether-it-works
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Preflight Covid-19 testing is on the rise — the question is whether it works
Can preflight testing get people flying again? The IATA thinks so. Last month, the trade association called for the “development and deployment of rapid, accurate, affordable, easy-to-operate, scalable and systematic” Covid-19 testing for all passengers as a way to restore passenger confidence, bypass quarantines and reopen borders. Within weeks, United, American Airlines and JetBlue announced plans to launch preflight testing programs to places such as Hawaii, Costa Rica and the Caribbean, depending on the airline. By that time, Italy’s largest airline, Alitalia, was already operating two flights between Rome and Milan for passengers who tested negative before boarding. Panama reopened its borders this week to travelers who arrive with a negative Covid-19 test in hand, or who test negative after taking a rapid test upon landing. But testing isn’t quite that simple. Just ask Iceland. When Iceland reopened on June 15, the country exempted travelers from a two-week quarantine if they tested negative for Covid-19 upon arrival. Cases started rising less than a month later. In August, Iceland revised its policy. It now requires two Covid-19 tests — one upon arrival and another five days later — with mandatory quarantining in between. In one of the most high-profile testing fails of the pandemic, a Covid-19 outbreak erupted at the White House this month due in part to its practice of relying on rapid tests to screen visitors. The tests are known to miss up to a third of asymptomatic infections. In calling for preflight testing last month, the IATA said that “deployable solutions are expected in the coming weeks.” Medical experts say that may be premature. Polymerase chain reaction tests, also called PCR, can more accurately diagnose positive cases, said Dr. Peter Gulick, an infectious disease expert at Michigan State University. But those tests, which rely on a nasal swap, throat swab or saliva, “are run in a lab so it may take days to come back, and a patient may get infected during that time,” he said. <br/>
