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Chennai airport revises rate for Covid-19 RT-PCR test. Check details
The detection of the new variant has once again rattled the health community as they fear it will dampen all the efforts made to slow down the pandemic.
Chennai airport officials said on Wednesday they have slashed the price of the RT-PCR test to detect Covid-19 by ₹200 amid concerns over the new coronavirus variant Omicron. The test will now cost ₹700 instead of ₹900 which was the rate before the price was revised by state authorities.
“International Passengers travelling (arr/dep) through @aaichnairport can pre-book their #covidtest slots using the link http://tinyurl.com/PATAAI or through QR access. The RT-PCR charges @HllHindlabs will be Rs.700 w.e.f 01.12.2021. @AAI_Official,” the Chennai airport said in a tweet.
Notably, the slashing of the rates of RT-PCR test comes amid new rules that have been enforced for international passengers arriving from ‘at risk’ countries in light of the detection of the new and possibly more dangerous variant of coronavirus, Omicron.
The detection of the new variant has once again rattled the health community as they fear it will dampen all the efforts made to slow down the pandemic.
The new variant was first detected in South Africa on November 11, and many countries including, the United Kingdom, Germany, have reported cases of the new strain since.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that most of the cases outside Africa are travel-related even as it expects local transmission in other countries as more information becomes available.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has put on hold the resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger airline services to or from India amid the Omicron scare. The aviation regulator, however, said it will notify its decision on the same in due time.
In a meeting late last month, the central government announced commercial international flights shall resume from December 15, after a gap of more than 20 months.
