A new Covid test centre is ready to start rapid testing of inbound passengers arriving at Heathrow airport’s Terminal 2, as soon as the government gives it the go-ahead. Arrivals would find out results within 24 hours of being tested, replacing the need for a 14-day quarantine.
More than 13,000 passenger tests a day can be carried out in the facility, launched by aviation services firm Swissport and the Collinson Group, which runs airport lounges. A second test centre will be ready at Terminal 5 by the end of August, and operators say both centres are scalable according to demand.
The proposed pilot scheme would use a two-test model, which has been used successfully in Iceland: this involves a first test taken at the facility on arrival in the UK, and a confirmatory test a few days later. These are PCR swab tests, used to detect the presence of the virus, rather than tests of the body’s immune response, or antibodies. The optional tests will cost £150 each, but this could be reduced if the scheme was scaled up.
Heathrow is waiting for the green light from the government to allow arrivals who test negative to leave quarantine much sooner. It is hoped that replacing quarantine measures with testing will help restore consumer confidence and give the travel industry a much-needed boost.
The government is thought to be meeting next week to discuss the plans. Other potential schemes include single testing of all arrivals after a period of quarantine at home, which could be five to 10 days.
Health minister Matt Hancock said that the government was working with Heathrow but foresaw challenges in ensuring all cases were detected
“I’m very glad that they’re making progress, but we’ve got to make sure that this is safe and secure, because obviously that is absolutely top priority,” Hancock told LBC radio this week.
Similar measures are already in place at some of the world’s busiest airports, such as Paris Charles de Gaulle, Tokyo Haneda and Dubai International.
“This facility is an oven-ready opportunity to see how Britain can safely reopen for business, as other countries are doing,” said Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye. “Testing will not only avoid the ‘quarantine roulette’ that so many passengers faced in Spain and France, it will also open up flights to key trading partners such as the US, Canada and Singapore. The government’s own research shows that a double Covid test has a high level of accuracy.”
Paul Charles, of travel PR firm the PC agency, is calling for testing as a viable long-term alternative to quarantine. He was spokesperson for Quash Quarantine, which paused campaigning after successfully fighting a blanket quarantine.
“If we are going to learn to live with Covid, there have to be alternatives to quarantine,” Charles said. “Quarantine measures are extremely destructive to the economy, because you quarantine the vast majority of people that are perfectly healthy, affecting productivity and scarring the economy. The alternative has to be testing, as other countries are doing.
“The government has been lagging behind. Even extensive trials now are important, because you can’t have quarantine continue much longer. I think many people are prepared to pay for tests as well.”
This article was updated on 25 August to remove the reference to antigens when discussing PCR testing. These are two distinct types of tests, both used detect the presence of a virus (rather than antibodies), although antigen testing is not widely used for coronavirus at present.
