Omicron threat: Kochi airport raises testing capacity to 700 an hour

KOCHI: As concerns grow over the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, the Kochi airport has scaled up its Covid testing facilities for inbound international passengers, enabling 700 tests an hour. A meeting chaired by Kochi airport managing director S Suhas on Wednesday decided to incorporate both rapid PCR and RT-PCR tests to ensure hustle-free passenger movement in the international arrival area.

In addition to the current capacity of 350 RT-PCR tests per hour, the same number of rapid PCR testing facilities will be arranged. According to the latest guidelines issued by the ministry of health and family welfare, all passengers arriving from high-risk countries must be tested at the airport. They must also wait in the holding area until the results are received.