"Chennai Airport starts Rapid PCR at Rs 3,400," says: Officials

Travellers can book their test online before arriving at the Airport

Chennai: Every corner of the globe are taking steps to finish the new strain of the pandemic - Omicron. India requests all the passengers to go through the RT-PCR tests, but it is time-consuming. Therefore the Tamil Nadu Govt. has started a rapid test to cut down the time of getting the results. The passengers have an option to get rapid PCR results in 30 minutes for Rs 3,400. RT-PCR tests, which are deemed more reliable by experts, take five to six hours and are much cheaper at the price of Rs 700.

According to the State Govt., Travellers can pick any of the two tests. Domestic passengers also have to fill up forms with details about where they are going in Tamil Nadu, which would help in contact tracing later if needed.

In a report of NDTV, Dr Sharad Kumar, Director, Chennai Airport said, "Eighty-eight passengers, arriving from at-risk countries, were tested this morning... none of them tested positive. It's a five-six-hour wait for RT-PCR test results and a half-hour wait for Rapid PCR tests. Early registrations and rapid tests are helping in making the process faster."

Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Israel are on this list of at-risk countries.

All the passengers who have visited these nations in the last 14 days have to get themselves tested.

According to Tamil Nadu's Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan, The waiting hall at the Chennai Airport - which receives 40 international flights daily - can accommodate up to 700 passengers, and a " government-arranged treatment would follow for those who test positive.

Covid tests can be booked online before departure or on arrival.