RT-PCR test pilot programme begins at Dhaka airport

Dhaka: The initial process for installing RT-PCR lab at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for expatriate workers returning to their workplaces in the UAE commenced on September 22.  

As part of the pilot programme, some 46 expatriates returned to the United Arab Emirates on September 22 after getting tested for Covid-19 by DMFR Molecular Lab and Diagnostics, one of the six laboratories selected to conduct the PCR tests at the airport.

"Returnees who test negative are scheduled to fly to the UAE on an Emirates flight at 7:30 pm on September 22. They will also be tested once again upon reaching the UAE," Dr Shahriar Sajjad, Health Officer, HSIA, said.

Dr Sajjad added that airport authorities will be able to start mass PCR testing for returning expatriate workers within a week.

The UAE has made it mandatory for returning expatriate workers to get a rapid PCR test done six hours before departure from Bangladesh. As there was no RT-PCR lab at Dhaka airport, the return of around 40,000 expatriate workers was uncertain.

On September 21, Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad, and Health Minister Zahid Maleque, visited the airport to decide on a new site for an RT-PCR lab as the institutions approved for installing the labs objected to the previously designated site which was the rooftop of the airport's parking lot.

The new site for the lab is inside the airport, the health minister said, adding that six organisations will install the labs and work will begin as soon as possible.

The health minister said another steel structure lab will be set up later on the roof of the airport's multi-storied parking facility. The place will be air-conditioned, there will be a supply of water and electricity, but it will take a while to do that.

"The installation work will start around 10 days later since the rapid PCR machines will have to be brought from abroad. However, we will be able to install RT-PCR machines currently available to us here, within the next two or three days," said the health minister.

Earlier on September 6, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued a directive to set up RT-PCR labs as soon as possible at the three international airports in the country.

On September 15, the expatriates' welfare ministry permitted seven healthcare facilities to set up labs at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Of them, the standard operating procedures (SOP) submitted by six laboratories, were sent to the UAE for approval.

A new and separate SOP has to be sent to UAE for the lab getting installed at the new site, said Dr Shahriar Sajjad, Health Officer at HSIA.

Regarding the new site inside the airport, Chairman Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, Air Vice-Marshal M Mofidur Rahman said, "The space inside the newly selected area is small. We may not be able to test more than 300 people a day."

CAAB Chairman added, typically, some 2,600 to 2,800 Bangladeshi passengers fly to the UAE every day. Now, no one can go there without getting a rapid PCR test six hours before the flights, as mandated by the UAE authorities.

Outbound passengers will be able to undergo Covid-19 tests at the RT-PCR lab booths, paying a minimum of BDT 1,700 to a maximum of BDT 2,300, according to a ministry circular issued on September 15.