You may be required to take a blood test before your next flight
Bad news for needle-phobes: You may soon be required to take a blood test before you're allowed to board a plane.
Airlines have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with passenger traffic down up to 95 percent during the outbreak. As air travel begins to ratchet back up in the coming months, though, the health of passengers is going to be paramount — already a number of airlines are requiring passengers wear masks on board. A new report by Axios suggests measures post-coronavirus could go even further than that, with travelers potentially required "to have your blood tested" via finger-prick "to prove you're in good health before boarding."
It would not be a totally unprecedented move. Emirates has already rolled out an on-site "quick blood test" for travelers passing through Dubai International Airport, which returns results within 10 minutes. The blood test, though, doesn't check for "active coronavirus infections," CNN Travel clarifies, but rather for "proteins in the immune system, known as antibodies … Their presence means a person was exposed to the virus and developed antibodies against it." However, such a test would not catch everyone who's just getting sick because in the early days of an infection, antibodies are not yet being produced at a detectable level.
Still, blood tests may be one of many changes coming to protect travelers as the country begins to slowly reopen. Other possible changes could include requiring passengers to arrive at the airport four hours early to pass through a "disinfection tunnel" prior to entering the airport, a required proof-of-antibodies certificate, or extreme social distancing measures at boarding gates. Read more about what could be coming for air travelers at Axios.
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