Heathrow boss calls for coronavirus tests at UK airports
The chief executive of the UK’s biggest airport has written to the government to call for it to introduce mass health screening at the country’s airports as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Last night John Holland-Kaye wrote to health secretary Matt Hancock to demand the UK puts in place rigorous measures to counter the pandemic.
The letter, which was first reported by the Daily Mail, calls for a internationally agreed package of measures, which could include temperature checks and antibody tests.
In a statement Heathrow Airport confirmed that the letter had been sent:
“As a global hub airport, Heathrow will need to adopt the highest international standards, even if that takes us beyond those required by the UK Government.
“However, we believe that the UK government could provide a lead in defining that Common International Standard, as they have done with security standards.
“At Heathrow, we are already working with the aviation industry and regulators here and in other countries to establish the need for a common standard, and what it might involve”.
The airport also called on the government to share its evidence for saying that temperature checks would be ineffective as a means of screening for the virus.
Public Health England has said the tests would only pick up a small number of cases of a virus with an incubation period of 14 days.
The demand for a more rigorous testing anger comes amid widespread concern that thousands of people are still entering the country without any restrictions, unlike the majority of other countries around the world.
Yesterday Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon also called on Westminster to introduce some form of testing.
Some epidemiologists have questioned the UK’s approach, with Royal Society of Medecine public health president Dr Gabriel Scally telling the Financial Times that the UK was an “outlier” compared to the rest of the world:
“It is very hard to understand why it persists in having this open-borders policy. It is most peculiar.”