Video: Over 4.5m travellers tested for Covid at Dubai airport

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Dubai - With DXB's in-house laboratory, PCR test results are out in four to six hours.

Dhanusha Gokulan

Published: Sat 17 Jul 2021, 2:06 PM

Last updated: Sat 17 Jul 2021, 2:09 PM

More than 4.5 million passengers arriving at Dubai International Airport (DXB) have so far been tested for Covid-19 as part of the city’s stringent safety measures, a top official revealed on Saturday.

Issa Al Shamsi, vice-president of operations at Dubai Airports, said Covid testing processes upon travellers’ arrival have also become more efficient with DXB’s in-house laboratory now fully operational. One of the world’s largest airport laboratories for Covid, the facility can deliver PCR test results in just four to six hours.

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“What used to happen earlier is that test results would come out every 24 and 48 hours as samples were collected every 12 hours from the airport and sent to various labs in the emirate,” Al Shamsi explained in a video shared by the Dubai Media Offie on Saturday.

“What is happening at the moment is that samples are collected every 30 minutes and sent to the lab, which is built in-house, and results are out in four to six hours.”

The airport’s testing facility was launched in coordination with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Pure Health, It was inaugurated last month by Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management, and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Airports.

Spread across an area of 20,000 square feet, the lab can analyse over 100,000 samples per day. “It is linked with various platforms that facilitates easy and fast sharing of test results with various regulatory authorities, government departments and various airlines,” Al Shamsi said.

Over 110,000 airport staff have been given the Covid jab, thanks to an on-site vaccination centre set up in coordination with DHA.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com