A mobile laboratory has been deployed at Liverpool airport to offer Covid testing for departing passengers or recent arrivals who want to reduce their quarantine time.
The Randox Health mobile lab can perform mobile PCR testing, with the capacity to process up to 1,000 tests daily.
This means that a fit-to-fly or test-to-release certificate that would normally take up to 48 hours will take as little as one hour and no longer than three hours to deliver a certificate back to a customer.
Furthermore, Randox Health has been added to the list of private providers for the government’s test to release scheme.
Passengers can take the test to reduce quarantine five full days after leaving a destination that is not on the travel corridor list.
Lucy O’Shaughnessy, commercial director at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, said: “Being able to offer our passengers the facility to reduce the self-isolation period from 10 days to five days in line with government guidelines is great news.
“2020 has been a very difficult year for our industry and this addition is another step forward.”
Cliff Kirby, director of Test Assurance Group (TAG) – a partner in the venture – added: “At a time when there is so much uncertainty, being able to offer people arriving in the UK the facility to reduce their self-isolation from 10 days to five days subject to a Covid negative result is great news.
“We are delighted that Randox have chosen to strengthen their bonds with the Liverpool City Region by situating their first mobile testing facility with us at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. This is the only one of its kind deployed in the UK right now.”
The express one-to-three hour testing service is available for £175 per test, while the standard 48-hour service is £110.
There is also an NHS drive-through testing facility on the airport grounds but passengers must not use NHS facilities for travel-related purposes.