Carrying out testing at airport

As lockdown restrictions become relaxed we will start to see the travel industry slowly come back into action, most likely essential travel will take place first

We need to have some form of protocol put into place to keep track of individuals entering the country that may have the virus

Unlike other countries before the lockdown there was no tests being carried out to people on arrival to the country.

Hong Kong for example have successful managed to keep deaths and spread of infection at a minimum.

Hong Kong tests all arrivals and each person is required to self isolated for two weeks regardless.

Why the contribution is important

It is important to help prevent a second wave of infections.

by Leanne0987 on May 05, 2020 at 05:37PM

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Average rating: 4.8
Based on: 44 votes

Comments

  • Posted by Willyscotsman May 05, 2020 at 18:09

    Edinburgh Airport alone has around 700 staff according to the evening Times. You have taxis, buses and trams going to and from the airport. 3 hotels and all the ancillary companies that service it all. That's 1000's of people who directly or indirectly come into contact with just one airport. I don't think it will be possible to protect or control a virus once it is in that chain of people.

  • Posted by Maggiebaillie May 05, 2020 at 18:15

    Countries that have successfully restricted the spread of Coronavirus such as Australia, New Zealand and South Korea introduced closed borders and/or quarantine for new arrivals early on. If we want to limit infection it seems sensible to track possible new cases arriving in the country.

    Also , it would reassure people that everything possible was being done to reduce the spread whereas, while no testing/quarantining is done on new arrivals, people feel that their actions to stop the virus are undermined.

  • Posted by CocoTC12 May 05, 2020 at 18:15

    Agreed this is important, particularly given pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission. If testing capacity allows then people should be tested regardless of screening questions/temperature (for data). However, a period of self-quarantine for 14 days should be required as a minimum, regardless of test results. Importantly there would need to be some form of ensuring that self-quarantine/isolation is being obeyed, e.g. wrist bands are being issued in Hong Kong for those testing positive, with transfer to quarantining facilities if self-isolation at home is not being obeyed.

  • Posted by KevNan May 05, 2020 at 18:21

    Airports are a very difficult place to ensure social distancing and the risk of infection of the ground staff is very high. Equipment such as computers are shared between many people and companies, and passport and ticket checks have to be carried out by staff. It is essential that all companies involved are instructed to protect their staff with both physical barriers and PPE. Staff also need to be able to refuse to work in environments that put them at risk. It should also be noted that many of the staff are not unionised.

  • Posted by Norm1 May 05, 2020 at 19:12

    We should have been testing people as soon as they arrived at the airport which we haven’t done so should start now.

  • Posted by PaulR May 05, 2020 at 19:20

    I flew into Venice airport on 17th Feb and was surprised to find that a team in full PPE were checking everyone's temperature as we made our way toward immigration. Every passenger was handed a multi-lingual leaflet explaining the symptoms of Covid-19 and a number to call if we felt ill at any time during our visit.
    We flew back to Edinburgh on 21st Feb and found no checks at the airport. It was 2 days later that we first heard about the Covid-19 outbreak in Northern Italy which was causing a significant death toll.
    Any passenger on our flight could have been infected, including ourselves, but we were totally unaware until we saw the news on TV. I wonder how many cases were imported at that time before we all became Coronavirus-aware?
    Furthermore, I wonder how many hundreds of other infected people came through our airports unchallenged and unaware right up until the end of April because this laid-back, careless attitude continued across the UK with zero action from the Home Office.

  • Posted by Sky14 May 05, 2020 at 20:15

    We need a safe place for people coming back to Scotland where they can isolate for 14 days. In Australia all arrivals are escorted by the police to a hotel for 14 days isolation they can not leave the room. Yet people fly back to the UK with nothing in place for isolating. They travel on buses, trains etc to go home (we hope) and be responsible for staying home but by doing this they could have infected people on the way home and their families. Come on get a grip with incoming travel.

  • Posted by mikecon May 05, 2020 at 22:38

    Completely agree. We must do this Testing must be done at airports.

  • Posted by Ayrshire92 May 05, 2020 at 23:44

    PaulR and Sky14. Spot on. We are STILL not testing or isolating arrivals into Britain regardless of where they have come from because SAGE says that the risk is 'minimal'. A 737 carries around 130 people so if just 5 are carrying the virus then they could infect hundreds within a couple of days regardless of what the 'R' value is.

  • Posted by AudFish May 06, 2020 at 21:42

    Wouldn't it be sensible to test travellers before the got on the plane (and prevented them from boarding) rather than after they arrived in the uk

  • Posted by catsareace May 06, 2020 at 22:09

    I’ve been banging on to anyone that will listen (!) that the reason the virus is on these shores is because it came in on a plane, train, boat. The movement of people must be tightly controlled and that also means in and out of the country!! We’ve been following strict rules to stay at home, isolate, shield and this could all be undone on a huge scale if arrivals are not controlled. Overseas travel for the rest of 2020 in my opinion should be tightly controlled and for essential purposes only - beach holidays no I’m afraid. A small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things. If there is insufficient testing capability for arrivals then I feel passengers should be quarantined for 7-14 days and eg airport hotels which I’d imagine are empty just now could be used. Once evidence shows the virus is at low levels then controls could be eased, but when lockdown ends whilst we again will be following strict guidelines we shouldn’t risk that being undone with arrivals circulating the virus from country to country. I fear that without tighter controls in this area we will not just be back at square one but with a second wave in an unthinkable position. Stay safe everyone 🖖🏻

  • Posted by BrendaRae May 07, 2020 at 18:02

    This is necessary. If we are in lockdown and it is only being gradually lifted we will put the whole thing in jeopardy if we are allowing infection in from elsewhere.

  • Posted by Leanne0987 May 08, 2020 at 15:02

    I have since seen on the news that BA look to have 50% of flights back up and running by July. This again highlights my reasoning surrounding this issue.

  • Posted by Margaret May 10, 2020 at 16:48

    agree, allowing people into the country unchecked or without quarantine would have the ability to quickly raise the rate of infection and we've worked so hard and sacrificed loads to get to where we may be able to ease restrictions slightly.....let's not go backwards!
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