The new Omicron strain has seen some countries — like the United States — introduce tighter entry requirements, such as a negative test within 24 hours of travel.And a new service at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane international terminals is allowing passengers to get results within 30-90 minutes.Histopath Diagnostics Specialists’ tests, which use rapid PCR machines supplied by Roche Diagnostics, are a fraction of the price charged by private pathology labs.“For $79 you can come to the airport an extra hour before you would have got there to check into your flight, have that test, have a coffee while it is running and then jump onto your flight knowing that you’ve got all the correct documentation and certification required by the destination that you are travelling to,” Histopath’s director of operations Greg Granger said.Travellers can order and pay for the test online before they leave home and will be sent a QR code which they present at the testing clinic right near the departure gate before they have their throat and nose swab.Shortly after they get a text and an email reporting their test result and can ask for a printed form showing their result as well.The US now calls for a negative Covid test result 24 hours before travellers board the plane. The UK requires a negative Covid test be taken 48 hours before departure and other countries require one within 72 hours of departure.However, if the aircraft is delayed, there is a risk that a test result taken three days before departure could expire mid-journey.Other pathology labs are offering a same day Covid test service with Healius charging $275 for the rapid turnaround test in selected collection centres from next week.Healius charges $150 for a PCR travel test that has a turnaround time on 24-36 hours.Sonic’s website list a $145 charge for its travel Covid tests.Roche Diagnostics managing director Allison Rossiter said the company’s $25,000 rapid testing device was the size of a home espresso machine and delivered results within 20 minutes.“It diagnoses flu and strep and RSV, and now Covid. It’s the quality of a laboratory but at the bedside,” she said.The machine cannot tell what variant of Covid a person has, only whether they have the virus or not.Katie Sverchek last saw her family in the US two-and-a-half years ago when her sister was married. Since then she has got engaged and her sister has given birth to a baby girl.The 27-year-old, from Coogee in Sydney, was excitedly preparing to return home for Christmas.But the 24-hour Covid test rule change by the US Government threw a spanner in the works.“The hardest thing for me was trying to make sure I got the results in time,” she said.A friend told her about the testing clinics at the airport.“It is stressful enough travelling now so this actually really makes it a lot easier just knowing that it’s all there, it’s a one-stop shop,” she said.
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