India News | Rapid RT-PCR Machines at Delhi Airport to Be Increased from 120 to 200 in a Few Days: Genestrings
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The number of rapid RT-PCR machines at the Delhi airport will be increased from 120 to 200 within the next few days, said the company tasked with conducting the compulsory COVID-19 test of passengers arriving from "at-risk" countries.
New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) The number of rapid RT-PCR machines at the Delhi airport will be increased from 120 to 200 within the next few days, said the company tasked with conducting the compulsory COVID-19 test of passengers arriving from "at-risk" countries.
In a statement on Wednesday, Founder and Director of Genestrings Diagnostics Gauri Agarwal said the number of employees deployed at the Delhi airport's laboratory will also be increased from 600 to 750.
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Under the new norms that came into force from December 1 following the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for passengers arriving from "at-risk" countries, and they will be allowed to leave the airport only after the results come.
At the Delhi airport, rapid RT-PCR test costs a passenger Rs 3,500 but the results come in 60-90 minutes. RT-PCR costs a passenger Rs 500 and the results come in around six hours.
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A passenger coming from an "at-risk" country to the Delhi airport has to compulsorily pre-book either of the tests.
According to the Union Health Ministry, countries in Europe including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand and Israel are "at-risk" countries.
Under the new norms, two per cent of the passengers arriving in all flights from other countries such as the US will be subjected to RT-PCR test randomly.
Agarwal said on Wednesday, "We have strategized and decided to augment and nearly double our capacity for rapid PCR. We'll now have 200 rapid testing machines deployed within the next few days."
"Overall, we will soon have close to 750 employees working on this mega project 24/7 ensuring safe international borders for the nation," she noted.
The international airports today were the new war frontier and these young employees were the new soldiers fighting against a potential third wave on a war footing, she stated.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)