Melo Villareal
MANILA, Philippines – AirAsia welcomes the recent approval of saliva testing for COVID-19, a positive development towards stimulating air travel demand.
On Monday, 25 January 2021, the Department of Health (DOH) approved the RT-PCR Saliva testing for COVID-19 after the successful pilot testing conducted by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) yielded 98.11% accuracy.
RT-PCR Saliva testing generates faster results within three to four hours after samples have been collected. It is also cheaper at P1,500-P2,000 compared to the RT-PCR swab test, which ranges from P3,500-5,000.
Before this, only PRC laboratories are allowed to conduct the saliva test, pending the parallel validation test being conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
AirAsia Philippines Spokesperson Steve Dailisan said, “This will definitely positively increase the appetite of air travelers, especially for AirAsia leisure destinations such as Boracay and Bohol that require RT-PCR test. Saliva RT-PCR test is not only cheaper but also non-invasive and less stringent.
“While waiting for the vaccine, you can be assured that AirAsia will continue to find ways to offer cheaper alternatives, to lessen the financial burden of the flying public in fulfilling the requirements for air travel,” he added.
AirAsia’s partner diagnostic laboratory, Philippine Airport Diagnostic Laboratory (PADLab), is now in the process of securing a formal endorsement from DOH to facilitate the saliva test very soon.
Guests will enjoy discounted rates from AirAsia’s partner laboratories when they avail of their services via airasia.com.
AirAsia recently earned a perfect 7-star rating from Airlineratings.com for going above and beyond the protection of its passengers against COVID-19.
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