Coronavirus: Passengers take blood test before boarding flight

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Passengers flying from Dubai to Tunisia had to take a blood test before boarding their plane this week.

Dubai-based airline Emirates used a rapid COVID-19 blood test at the Dubai International Airport on all passengers on board the flight, CNN reported.

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The tests were done by the Dubai Health Authority at a group check-in area on Wednesday.

The results were available within 10 minutes.

Emirates is also having passengers and employees practice social distancing and protective barriers have been installed at check-in desks, company officials said in a statement.

The tests will be important for entrance to countries that require a COVID-19 test certification, the company said in a statement.

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Officials did not say if a passenger would be refused boarding because of the test results.

The tests aren’t for finding out if a person has an active coronavirus infection. Rather, it looks for antibodies that show that a person was exposed to the virus and that the body has developed antibodies against it.

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Another airline, Etihad Airways, has set up self-service kiosks at its Abu Dhabi hub to test travelers’ temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate, CNN reported.