Emirates is the first airline to launch on-site rapid COVID-19 testing for passengers. The airline was given the green light to partially resume operations on 6 April.
Tests are conducted by Dubai health officials at the Dubai International Airport. Within 10 minutes the results are available. Essentially, a passenger’s finger is pricked and the blood from that is tested.
Emirates has plans to ‘scale-up’ on tests for passengers that require a COVID-19 test certificate for the country they are travelling to.
Dubai announced that partial passenger services from Dubai to Algiers, Chicago, Jakarta, Kabul, Manila, Tunis and Taipei are in operation.
Emirates has become the first airline to conduct on-site rapid COVID-19 tests for passengers. The health and safety of our passengers and employees is of paramount importance, and will not be compromised. @DXB @DHA_Dubai #FlyEmiratesFlyBetter #COVID_19 #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/c443NU6bvA
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) April 15, 2020
Emirates becomes the first airline to conduct on-site rapid COVID-19 tests for passengers. The 10-minute tests are conducted by @DHA_Dubai at @DXB Terminal 3 for travellers to countries requiring COVID-19 test certificates. https://t.co/3j6jFFlxzY pic.twitter.com/rgxB09vh1I
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) April 15, 2020
The tests conducted are serology (blood) tests that are not used to diagnose active coronavirus infections. The blood samples essentially search for antibodies or proteins in the immune system. If these are identified then the person tested would have previously been exposed to the virus and has developed antibodies against it.
Antibodies however are not present in the initial onset of infection, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. This means that the body is still developing the antibodies and their presence will therefore go undetected.
This is however still a proactive move for safer air travel.
Image: Twitter/ Emirates
