Many serious issues over sample-taking at the BIA

All those arriving at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Katunayake, are being tested for COVID-19, with samples being taken there and then despatched to various laboratories to get real-time RT-PCR results.

There are many serious issues about how the samples are taken, not only the safety of those taking the samples but also the returnees, the lack of facilities, the lack of training in sample-taking and the high risk of the spread of COVID-19, a source said.

The samples are taken in the side-corridor that leads out of the arrivals’ hall of the airport, the Sunday Times learns.

As of June 19, 10,662 have returned to the country from America, United Kingdom, Italy, Ukraine, Istanbul, Russia, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangkok, Myanmar, South Korea, China and Australia. Since sample-taking at the BIA was launched in early June, 2,279 samples have been taken of 1,806 passengers and 473 airline crew.

The source who wished to remain anonymous cited the case of a flight which arrived from West Asia with close to 300 passengers this week, with about 20 healthcare workers (about five doctors and nurses, medical laboratory technicians and others) taking these samples.

The passengers are tired, agitated and in a hurry to leave the airport and as such are not very cooperative, said the source, pointing out that they cough and sneeze when and after the nasopharyngeal swab is taken. They grab any tissue that is available and where they dispose of it is not known. They also keep removing their face-masks. This could lead to infection of others throughout. As they are not cooperative and the staff has got only a simple training, the quality of the samples are also questionable and could result in false negatives.

The source lamented that as flights get delayed, the sample-taking staff, who have come from different areas including far away, has to be in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for a long time. They are tired and dehydrated.

“We also do not have facilities to change our clothes, into PPE and out of PPE. Some of us walk around here and there in our PPE looking for a place to change and this could be risky as the disease could spread if the PPE is contaminated. Some change in their vehicles, some out in the open in the corridor and others walk around looking for a place to change,” the source said, giving the Sunday Times an insight into the not- so- smooth system, even though airport officials have kept touting that everything is under control.

With the airport being the most likely entrypoint for a massive wave of COVID-19, once opened as proposed on August 1, many urged the authorities to get their act right.

“A disaster waiting to happen,” is the belief, with allegations of in-fighting and territorial issues within the airport.

With the entry-points gradually being opened, the BIA’s departure terminal visitor hall opened its doors on June 15 (Monday), after nearly three months. A passenger can be accompanied by a maximum of three visitors.