Delhi Airport To Offer COVID-19 Test Results Within 6 Hours To International Passengers; Know Rates

New Delhi: International travellers arriving at Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3 can undertake COVID-19 test inside the airport premises if they do not have a negative test report.

The airport is setting up a testing facility at the multi-level car parking area of T3, Delhi Airport International Limited (DIAL) said on Friday.

It has been established in collaboration with Genestrings Diagnostic Centre.

Passengers without prior test results will undergo a RT-PCR test and the result will be delivered within four to six hours. The cost of the test is Rs 5,000 and it includes stay at the airport lounge till the test result is out. Passengers can also opt to stay in a hotel.

If the test result is negative, the international passenger will be allowed to board the connecting domestic flight. Those who test positive will be quarantined according to Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) guidelines, from the airport itself.

“This is the first time such an arrangement has taken place in any airport in the entire country. We will test the incoming passengers at the airport and the reports will be ready within four to six hours which will ensure that they are tested before entering the city as well as forward journey. RT-PCR is a gold standard way of testing for Covid-19 and will be a game-changer for the safety of incoming passengers,” Dr Rajat Arora, Director, Genestrings Diagnostic Centre said.

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) has mandated that international passengers arriving in India who have RT-PCR negative certificate within 96 hours before journey would be exempted from institutional quarantine.

International passengers who don’t have a COVID-negative certificate or don’t want to get tested will have to compulsorily undergo 7-day institutional quarantine followed by 7-day home quarantine.