Airport offers virus tests with quicker turnaround
For $35 travelers can get saliva checks developed by SUNY
Albany International Airport, which two weeks ago began offering free saliva tests for COVID -19 to airport employees, on Wednesday began rolling out the voluntary tests to passengers who arrived at Albany International Airport.
It is using a test developed at SUNY Upstate Medical University and Quadrant Biosciences in Syracuse.
The test, say airport and university officials, is more sensitive and accurate than traditional nasal swab tests. It can take four days until the virus has spread to the point
where it can be detected by those tests. But the saliva test can detect virus fragments as soon as a day after exposure.
“We’re the first commercial application” for the SUNY saliva test, said Philip Calderone, the CEO of the airport authority. The airport is following
state Health Department protocols that require a four-day wait to test established for the nasal swab tests. The requirement that passengers would have to return to the airport to be tested may be a hurdle to wide acceptance of the test, for which
Arriving travelers who flew into Albany and waited four days after their arrival can return to the airport and scan a QR code to download an app that will prompt them for information, including information about their health insurance.
travelers will be charged $35.
In many cases, the passenger’s health insurance may cover the test’s cost.
Airport officials hope to move quickly to offer the test to departing passengers as well; the passengers could know as soon as a day later whether they tested positive.
Although the tests are selfadministered, they still must to be shipped overnight by UPS to Syracuse, where they are analyzed.
The airport is working with Dr. Michael Dailey, an emergency medicine physician at Albany Medical Center Hospital, to care for passengers who may test positive.
Arriving travelers who flew into Albany and waited four days after their arrival can return to the airport and scan a QR code to download an app that will prompt them for information, including information about their health insurance. There are several quirks to the app, which is still being developed.
In the student/employer section of their profile, they must enter “unknown.” And they must click on “Add a COVID -19 test,” in order to collect the test kit, which has information on it that must be added to their profile. The tests must be taken at a site next to baggage claim. Instructions come with the tests, along with admonishments not to spill the reagent in the test tube.
Test results should be ready within 48 to 72 hours and will be emailed to the traveler.
An updated testing app is expected to be ready sometime in mid- to late January, Calderone said.
The traveler testing is the airport’s latest move to reassure travelers that it and the airlines are working to make travel as safe as possible during the pandemic.
The airport earlier this week received two international safety certifications, making it the first airport in the state, the second in the country, and the fourth worldwide to receive both certifications, airport spokesman Doug Myers said.
Despite the efforts to keep the airport safe, Calderone said he nevertheless recommends people stay put.
“During the holidays, follow (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines and don’t travel,” Calderone said. “It’s the best gift you can give to your friends and loved ones.”