Full-scale Covid testing at Dhaka airport to start Tuesday: CAAB chairman
The much-awaited RT-PCR labs to conduct Covid-19 tests for the outgoing passengers will go into full-scale operation at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Tuesday.
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman announced this after launching the RT-PCR labs on experimental basis at the airport on Sunday, reports UNB.
State minster for civil aviation and tourism M Mahbub Ali and chairman of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation Hannan Mia were, among others, present.
The United Arab Emirates has imposed a condition that the passengers travelling to the UAE will have to conduct Covid-19 test at the airport 48 hours or 6-hours before departing the country, said the CAAB chairman.
“We have taken an initiative to launch the RT-PCR lab inside the airport with coordination of the overseas and expatriate welfare, health and foreign ministries and the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) conducted a test operation today,” he said.
“If the test-run goes successfully, then we will inform the airlines authorities and for this we need 48 hours and we hope those will start full-scale operation from 28 September,” he added.
There will be 12 machines installed at six labs at the airport. At least 3,000-4,500 people will be able to undergo tests at these labs every day, said the authorities.
Rapid PCR Lab for fast testing-results and RT-PCR Lab for general testing will also be used at the labs, said health and family planning minister Zahid Maleque while visiting the airport last week.
Earlier, on 6 September, cabinet secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said PCR booths will be set up at three international airports of Bangladesh to facilitate passengers to take Covid-19 tests four to six hours before boarding their flights.
The directive came from a cabinet meeting that was chaired by prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
He said the PCR booths will be set up at Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet international airports.