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The first Covid-19 test facility at Dublin Airport will open this morning, while a second test center will be open from next Monday at the airport.
Two private companies will offer individuals the option of taking a test drive or a walk-in test. The costs of the test range between € 99 and € 159.
The driving test center will be available starting today, with a walk-in test facility opening Monday.
The testing facilities, which will be operated by healthcare firms Randox and RocDoc, are open to the public, whether they require a test for travel or for another reason.
The tests must be pre-booked online.
There is testing capacity for more than 12,000 tests per day, which will shortly be expanded to 15,000.
“We have significant capacity to implement high-volume PCR testing, which is currently the only Covid-19 test method recognized and approved by every country in the world,” said Sophie Boyd, project manager for Randox testing service. at Dublin airport.
RocDoc CEO David Rock said the company had been working with Dublin Airport for more than two months on the new facility and was “pleased to give the green light” to start.
“We will install a category two laboratory and test facility, which will be able to process more than the expected tests per day,” Rock added.
The Randox walk-through facility will be located in an existing building near Terminal 2’s multi-story parking lot and will have separate entry and exit points for customers.
RocDoc’s vehicle facilities will be located in the Express Green parking lot, accessed via R132 (Old Airport Road).
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Last week, the Government adopted the EU traffic light system on travel, within which the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control independently designates specific regions as Green, Orange or Red, depending on the level of cases. in those areas.
There are no restrictions to travel from a green area to another country within the system.
The Government has said that passengers arriving from an Orange region must restrict their movement for 14 days unless they have a negative / undetected result of a Covid-19 PCR test taken no more than three days before the day of departure. .
Currently, all passengers arriving from a red region are required to restrict their movements for 14 days.
Beginning at midnight on November 29, passengers arriving from the red regions will no longer have to restrict their movements if they have a negative / undetected result of a Covid-19 PCR test taken at least five days after arrival. to Ireland.
Daa communications officer Paul O’Kane said there is an increase in demand for tests due to the EU traffic light system.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, O’Kane said: “Passengers actually traveling should check with the country of arrival which test is applicable in that country, if a test is required. The tests offered at Dublin Airport is a test. PCR where you get your results the next day or a LAMP test where you can get your result in five hours. ”
Taking Spain as an example, he said that if a person is traveling from Ireland (currently a red zone) they need a negative PCR test, which has been taken within three days of travel, to reach Spain.
O’Kane said Daa spoke to 20 different companies before they decided to “enter into agreements” with Randox and RocDoc.
He said Daa is also pushing for a low-cost rapid test, an antigen test, where results are available in half an hour and cost around € 5 or € 6, which can be incorporated into travel.
“It means that everyone who gets on a flight undergoes an antigen test beforehand and if they do not have a negative test, they are not allowed to get on the flight,” he said, adding that this is the position that should be applied in All Europe. .
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