People traveling immediately after the holiday may face uncertainties: many private clinics and test labs are closed on Christmas Day, so testing within the 72 hour window can be difficult, especially for PCR screening, which should be sent to a laboratory and can take several days to process.
The rapid antigen test, a relatively new tool for detecting the virus, gives a result in about 30 minutes, but is not so widely available, although it is cheaper. Heathrow airport, for example, charges passengers about $ 130 for PCR results in 48 hours and about $ 60 for antigen tests with results in 45 minutes.
Both tests are offered at major British airports – including Heathrow and Gatwick, London’s two main distribution centers and Manchester Airport – but passengers must register in advance. It was not clear how many would be able to take a test and get the result in time to travel.
The introduction of new travel restrictions raised concerns that travelers to the United States would flock to the airport, as Londoners did at train stations last Saturday, when stricter domestic rules were announced. But Heathrow officials on Friday described a normal, though quieter, flow of passengers typical of Christmas Day, with most seeming to travel on long-haul flights.
The coronavirus outbreak>
Words to know about tests
Confused by the terms about the coronavirus test? Let us help:
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- Antibody: A protein produced by the immune system that can accurately recognize and bind to specific types of viruses, bacteria or other invaders.
- Antibody test / serology test: A test that detects specific antibodies to the coronavirus. The antibodies begin to appear in the blood about a week after the coronavirus has infected the body. Because antibodies take a long time to develop, an antibody test cannot safely diagnose an ongoing infection. But it can identify people who have been exposed to the coronavirus in the past.
- Antigen test: This test detects pieces of coronavirus proteins called antigens. Antigen tests are quick, taking just five minutes, but are less accurate than tests that detect genetic material from the virus.
- Coronavirus: Any virus that belongs to the Orthocoronavirinae virus family. The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is known as SARS-CoV-2.
- Covid-19: The disease caused by the new coronavirus. The name is short for coronavirus disease 2019.
- Isolation and quarantine: Isolation is the separation between people who know they have a contagious disease and those who are not. Quarantine refers to restricting the movement of people who have been exposed to a virus.
- Nasopharyngeal swab: A long, flexible rod, with the tip of a soft cotton swab, which is inserted deep into the nose to obtain samples of the space where the nasal cavity meets the throat. Coronavirus test samples can also be collected with swabs that do not penetrate the nose so deeply – sometimes called nasal swabs – or oral or throat swabs.
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): Scientists use PCR to make millions of copies of genetic material in a sample. Tests using PCR allow researchers to detect the coronavirus even when it is scarce.
- Viral charge: The amount of virus in a person’s body. In people infected with coronavirus, the viral load may peak before they start showing symptoms, if symptoms at all.
Several airlines have previously announced policies requiring proof of a negative test following a demand from New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo that passengers arriving from London to John F. Kennedy International Airport would need to provide documentation of a negative flight result. test.
“We cannot allow history to repeat itself with this new variant”, Mr. Cuomo had written on Twitter.
Also on Thursday, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey said that passengers arriving at Newark airport need negative exams 72 hours before departure to enter.
American travel requirements are less draconian than those in other countries in Europe and Asia, which prevented all travelers from Britain after the emergence of the new coronavirus variant. Experts doubt that travel bans could prevent the spread of the variant. In fact, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the United States’ leading infectious disease specialist, said there was a good chance that the variant was already in the country.