A new coronavirus testing site opened Wednesday at Boston’s Logan International Airport for airport and airline employees.
Boston Logan International Airport on Wednesday opened a new coronavirus testing site, becoming the latest airport to offer the service to travelers amid an ongoing swoon in air travel.
XpresCheck, a health and wellness firm, began building the testing facility earlier this month at the airport's international arrivals area.
The facility opened Wednesday for airport and airline employees only. The site will open to passengers in mid-November.
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According to the company, the facility includes seven testing rooms that can accommodate over 400 tests per day, including rapid molecular tests, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests and antibody tests.
Officials with XpresCheck said individual testing will take about 20 minutes.
"With early diagnosis, we can prevent the spread and help ensure that we have a lower risk travel environment," said Doug Satzman from XpresCheck.
Appointments won't be needed for a test but they will cost $75. Test results could also take a few days, according to Satzman.
"Both of those tests will go to an outside lab and processing may take 1 to 2 to 3 days," Satzman said.
The number of passengers traveling continues to improve from the drastic lows earlier this year, but it’s still a far cry from pre-pandemic levels. Nationwide, air travel is still down about 60% and even worse at Logan, which is down about 80%.
Experts say such facilities could become the norm at airports.
Airport officials said the Logan facility will be staffed with a doctor, a nurse practitioner and up to five medical assistants.
"It's building confidence with the traveling public and the ability and the convenience and the ability to be tested here," said Massport Director of Security Hank Shaw.
Bradley International Airport in Connecticut recently launched a COVID-19 testing site for passengers. The state partnered with Connecticut-based Genesys Diagnostics to operate the site inside the airport, which is limited to passengers and employees.
