E-Paper
Mumbai airport sets up 24x7 RT-PCR testing facility to test international passengers
The test would cost around Rs 1,600 and the results will be available within eight hours.
After the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) allowed arriving international passengers to get tested for Covid-19, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has set up a 24x7 express Covid-19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test facility.
The test would cost around Rs 1,600 and the results will be available within eight hours. The airport operator, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has advised passengers to book their onward flight only after a gap of 8-12 hours. The MIAL will also make the facility available for departing passengers.
Passengers will be able to register on www.suburbandiagnostics.com. The airport operator has set up a helpdesk at the arrival terminal for RT-PCR test enrollments.
MIAL spokesperson said, “Upon submission of test samples, arriving passengers will be at the waiting lounge with special food and beverage (F&B) arrangements while waiting for their test report. Alternatively, passengers can also opt to book a room at the airport hotel with the approval of the state authorities. Passengers who have tested negative will be allowed to proceed onward to their final destinations; they will receive a stamp indicating home quarantine by the state officials. In the event of a positive report, passengers will be transferred by the state authorities to a designated institution.”
Also read: Won’t be enough Covid-19 vaccines till 2024 - Serum Institute’s Adar Poonawalla
The spokesperson also said passengers departing from Mumbai will soon be able to undergo RT-CPR test at CSMIA and have their reports emailed to them.
As per an earlier initiative, all international arriving passengers could choose to be exempted from institutional quarantine by filling an online self-declaration form as well as uploading the results of an RT-PCR test undertaken within 96 hours before their take off. International arriving passengers leaving from Mumbai airport were allowed to display the results of the RT-PCR test in order to escape institutional quarantine and instead observe a 14-day home quarantine.
