Heathrow to launch rapid testing pilot

Heathrow is working with NHS Test & Trace on a Government-led colleague testing pilot. The pilot will use rapid lateral flow tests to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the airport. This pilot is designed to support measures already in place to keep the airport COVID-secure, help stop the spread of the new more contagious strain of the virus and provide valuable insight into how rapid testing can be more widely deployed across Britain to keep vital services such as critical national infrastructure running.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: “We’re pleased to be working with the Government on this pilot testing scheme which goes even further to protect our colleagues and the other key workers who are keeping the country moving through this crisis. This pilot will support us as we work to keep the UK’s biggest port running smoothly, helping to facilitate essential journeys and the movement of cargo.”

Baroness Dido Harding, Interim Executive Chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: “With over 62 million tests processed and more than 7 million people contact-traced since its creation nine months ago, NHS Test and Trace plays a vital role in the fight against COVID-19.

“This is a national effort and a partnership of public and private sectors. Around one in three people with COVID-19 don’t display symptoms, meaning you can infect others unknowingly. This pilot is one of many which will inform our understanding of how rapid asymptomatic testing can be operationalised in the real world; to protect those at high risk, find the virus and help us go back to as normal a way of life as possible.”

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