All passengers will soon be allowed to undergo RT-PCR and the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) testing for SARS CoV-2 at Chennai airport. Passengers can pay for the test and get the results before boarding a flight or exiting the airport.
Authorities are working on rectifying a glitch on the portal for online booking of slots for the Rapid Antigen Test for outbound passengers.
While travellers arriving at the airport do not face any issues in online booking for RAT, passengers going to countries other than the U.A.E. are unable to book a slot online before reaching the airport. They are unable to proceed beyond the booking page with the portal flashing a message “only passengers travelling to UAE shall opt for rapid test.”
With the U.S. making it mandatory for those entering the country to produce a negative COVID-19 test report from the coming week, the glitch could become an issue, a few travellers said.
A senior official at the Chennai airport, who acknowledged the problem, said it had been brought to the notice of the officials concerned and they were coordinating with the Hindlabs to fix the glitch.
However, passengers heading to other districts in the State can take Rapid PCR test by showing their travel ticket.
Charges for tests
RT-PCR and Rapid PCR testing counters were working round-the-clock at Chennai airport.
While the charge for RT-PCR testing is ₹700, it is ₹3,400 for Rapid PCR test.
The airport official said on December 1, 420 persons underwent RT-PCR and Rapid PCR tests and the figure rose to 591 on December 2.
The website for online booking of COVID-19 tests at Chennai airport is https://myhindlab.com/ MobVerifyPatRegistrationAAI.aspx