80 migrants miss flight over slow PCR tests at airport

Dhaka: 80 UAE-bound passengers, mostly migrant workers, could not board their scheduled Etihad Airways flight as their rapid PCR test result did not come through on time at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on October 4.

This shows that the struggles of the stranded 20,000 UAE-based Bangladeshi expatriates still remain even after the government made the rapid PCR testing facilities at the airport operational from September 29.

Sadly, the six labs are not providing the test results on time, which is mandatory for boarding a UAE-bound flight. As a result, passengers are missing their respective flights.

The Gulf state had imposed a flight ban from Bangladesh on May 12 following a huge spike in cases in the preceding weeks and the emergence of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus.

While the ban was lifted on August 4, it came with a condition for entry: negative results from PCR test done 48 and six hours before departure.

The government took a while to set them up at the Dhaka airport, but it now appears they are not functioning as efficiently as they should.

"They are taking a long time to give us the test result. If we cannot get the test result two to three hours before our flight, we are at risk of missing our flight," said Aminul Islam, a UAE-bound migrant worker.

Mohammad Nabi, another UAE-bound passenger, said some of his acquaintances have missed their flight even after arriving at the airport nine to ten hours before take-off to give samples for the rapid PCR test, which cost BDT 1,600 for all but the migrant workers as the expatriate welfare ministry has made it free for them.

The UAE-bound passengers said they need to stand in ten separate queues for the Covid-19 test at the facilities set up inside Terminal-1 of the airport.

Despite these sufferings, they are at risk of missing their scheduled flights, they added.

Many passengers are arriving after the check-in counter had closed because of the delay in getting their rapid PCR test result, said officials of different UAE-bound airlines.

By and large, airlines close their check-in counter an hour before the departure of international flights.

"If there were one or two passengers, we could still arrange for them to board the flight. But if the number of passengers is too many, we can't do anything," said an official of an airline.

The entire process of getting a Covod-19 test at the airport is very badly managed, he claimed. "Passengers are simply not given their test results considering their flight times."

Even then, their problem does not end: they have to stand in another queue for online verification of the test result. "This is causing waste of time," he added.

On the other hand, Touhid-ul Ahsan, Executive Director of HSIA, blamed the six healthcare facilities that were allowed to set up the labs at the airport and the health department for the UAE-bound passengers' hardship.

The six rapid PCR labs at the airport are being run by Stemz Health Care, CSBF Health Centre, AMZ Hospital, Anwar Khan Modern Medical College and Hospital, ZH Sikder Women's Medical College and Hospital, Gulshan Clinic and DMFR Molecular Lab and Diagnostics.

Ahsan went on to advise the UAE-bound passengers to arrive at the airport with enough time in hand.

"Arriving at the airport at least six to eight hours before the scheduled flight schedule will not cause such problems to the UAE-bound passengers," he urged.