Emirates and Dubai Health Authority (DHA) have teamed up and turned the Dubai International Airport into COVID-19 testing site for passengers boarding the flight. The airline claims it is the first one to conduct an on-site inspection for COVID-19 for passengers. This effort is efficient in filtering passengers who might be carriers of the virus from boarding the flight and risking other passengers.
On-site rapid COVID-19 testing
Emirates started conducting rapid COVID-19 tests for passengers boarding the flight to Tunisia on Wednesday. All passengers were tested at the Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3 before they boarded and the results were available within 10 minutes after taking the blood samples.
Emirates started the on-site rapid COVID-19 testing initiative only for destinations that require COVID-19 test certificates. But it won't be surprising to see all passengers flying out of Dubai being tested soon to control the spread of the deadly virus.
"We are working on plans to scale up testing capabilities in the future and extend it to other flights, this will enable us to conduct on-site tests and provide immediate confirmation for Emirates passengers travelling to countries that require COVID-19 test certificates. The health and safety of staff and passengers at the airport remain of paramount importance," Adel Al Redha, Emirates Chief Operating Officer, said, according to Gulf News.
Safety precautions
As per the photos shared by the airlines on Twitter, all precautionary measures are taken to protect the health officials carrying out COVID-19 tests on the site. Social distancing is practiced with diligence, protective barriers are placed at check-in counters, gloves, masks and hand sanitizers are mandatory for all employees, all luggage except laptops, briefcases, baby items to be checked in and the inflight service is modified for health and safety reasons.
Emirates is currently operating a limited number of flights for passengers to some destinations. Flights are operating to London four times a week, Frankfurt thrice a week, and other destinations on specified dates.
"To tackle COVID-19, we have been proactively working with various governmental organisations and the private health sector and we have implemented all necessary measures from public health protection to provision of high-quality health services in line with the latest international guidelines. We believe strongly that the most effective solutions require close partnerships with other public and private sector organisations," Humaid Al Qutami, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), said in a statement.
