Hyderabad: Telangana State Health Minister Mr Eatala Rajendar today inaugurated the COVID Testing Lab at GMR Hyderabad International Airport giving travellers the added facility for a safe journey. This testing facility ensures a safe journey of all passengers entering the city, scheduled for domestic connecting flights or international departing passengers.
As per Telangana State health regulations, all arriving International passengers having onward connections need to have a malicious RT-PCR test certificate (done within 96 hours before the departure time) either from the port of origin or test done on arrival at Hyderabad International Airport to avoid institutional quarantine. This may also be used by those departing passengers who may be required by the destination country to carry a negative RT-PCR Test report.
The Hyderabad International Airport has partnered with Mapmygenome, an ICMR and NABL certified lab for this. The lab will operate 24/7 for passengers and airport personnel. Passengers can avail of the test at the immigration level or the forecourt of Interim International Departures Terminal. Oropharyngeal swabs will be used for sample collection for the RT-PCR based test. Results will be available in 4-6 hours via email and WhatsApp. A hardcopy of the report will also be available. A lounge has also been created at the extended western plate of arrivals for the passengers who can wait to collect their information.
Mr SGK Kishore, ED – South and Chief Innovation Officer, GMR Airports said, “As countries around the world begin reopening their borders to travellers holding COVID negative test results, COVID Testing centres at airports will play a vital role in enabling the resumption of air travel. We have partnered with Mapmygenome to launch this COVID testing centre at Hyderabad International Airport which will make it easier for passengers to gain access to highly accurate and widely accepted RT-PCR tests. We also appreciate the efforts taken by the Government of Telangana to flatten the Covid infection curve and restart economic activity in our state, which has helped to instil a sense of confidence in the public to start travelling again.”
Mapmygenome CEO Ms Anu Acharya said, “The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad is one of the top airports in India, in terms of customer experience. Our COVID testing lab takes this to the next level. As a frequent traveller, I understand the importance of the lab in airport premises. Harnessing the experience gained from being the first private lab to offer COVID testing in Telangana, we now offer a team of experts to make your journey hassle-free.”