Covid-19: Cork, Shannon airport centres ‘can test thousands daily’

New privately run Covid-19 testing centres at Cork and Shannon airports have the potential to test thousands of people daily, according to the entrepreneur behind the project.

RocDoc chief executive David Rock said that he was confident that the Covid 19 test centres at those airports could scale up to cater for demand from travellers in the coming weeks following the introduction of the EU wide ‘traffic light’ this month.

This would assist with getting the Irish aviation industry back to more sustainable levels in time for Christmas, Mr Rock said.

Under the EU traffic light system all passengers travelling from at risk regions have to undergo a pre-departure test for Covid-19, and the RocDoc system meets the necessary requirements in terms of providing passengers with clearance to fly within the stipulated 72 hours, he said.

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Speaking at the opening of the RocDoc Covid-19 test centre in a car park at Cork Airport, Mr Rock said people can book a test online and then turn up at the appointed time at the drive-through centre for a swab test of their choice, with different return times for the results.

“We’ve just opened today in Cork, and we will open in Shannon this afternoon, but already we have bookings coming in – at the moment it’s for people who need to travel for industry and business rather than holidaymakers, but we will be ramping up our capacity over the coming weeks.

“People will drive up to our test centre with a print-out of their booking on their window – we scan the barcode through the window so there is no contact and then we have three drive-through bays where our staff will take throat and nasal swabs from the person – it takes about five minutes,” Mr Rock said.

“The way we have built this is that we’ve done it on a modular basis so each bay can do 25 to 30 tests an hour, and we plan to have three bays here in Cork and then ramp that up as the bookings increase, but a thousand a day here would not be an issue for us.”

Mr Rock said RocDoc will provide three different types of swab tests for Covid-19, all of which are Health Products Regulatory Authority approved. The basic PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test, with results available within 24 to 72 hours, will cost €129.

A faster test using LAMP (Loop Medicated Isothermal Amplification) technology, where the results are available on the same day, costs €149. An express service again using LAMP technology, where the results are available within a few hours, costs €199.

People will get an email telling them to log on to the RocDoc portal for their results, and those who test negative for Covid can either show their live certification – stating they are clear to travel – on the RocDoc portal on their phone or they can present a PDF print-out.

Those who test positive for Covid-19 will receive a phone call from a health professional from RocDoc’s team of doctors, nurses and paramedics and be advised on what they should do while they will also contact the person’s GP and the HSE to allow contact tracing begin, he said.

Mr Rock said the testing centres will also be available for people working in the industry who are not travelling abroad but need to be tested quickly and for those who may wish to visit sick or vulnerable relatives in hospitals and nursing homes.

Cork Airport managing director Niall McCarthy welcomed the opening of the testing centre at the airport, saying the introduction of the testing centre was an important step on the road to recovery for the aviation sector.

“Airports and airlines alike hope that widespread testing will give passengers greater confidence to travel,” said Mr McCarthy, who was among the first to avail of the drive through the test centre in Cork when he got swabbed from his car.

“As a result of this initiative, passengers flying from Cork Airport can now get a test in advance of travel to prove they have tested negative for coronavirus for any health authorities that require it for Irish originating traffic.”