The XpresSpa Group this week announced that its XpresCheck subsidiary has been authorized to proceed with a $2 million dollar, eight-week pilot program with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify COVID variants, including the Delta variant, among air travelers.
The XpresCheck pilot program will be conducted in collaboration with Concentric by Ginkgo and be held at John F. Kennedy International (JFK), Newark Liberty International (EWR) and San Francisco International (SFO) airports.
During the pilot, passengers will be offered a free PCR test, which will be combined with 5-10 other samples for pooled testing and sent to a lab network to determine the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. If the presence of the virus is detected in the pooled sample, the pathogens in those samples will be genomically sequenced to identify the presence of any new variants, such as the Delta variant.
The program will initially be focused on passengers from India. A second phase of the program will consist of take-home PCR tests that some participating travelers may pick up at the airport and take within 3-5 days after their arrival and mailed to the designated lab. Both tests will help the CDC understand which variants are making their way to the U.S.
“We are excited to be working with the CDC on this pilot program and believe the data collected will prove invaluable in understanding the movement of current variants in airports, and tracking future variants of the virus that causes COVID-19,” said Doug Satzman, chief executive officer of XpresSpa Group. “The program is being designed to help track the influx of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and create a mechanism to be deployed against infectious diseases going forward. Following the launch of this CDC-backed bio-surveillance program, XpresCheck aims to further expand the relationship with the CDC and extend the program into all U.S. major international airports, with flights arriving from any high-risk countries in the near future.”
Traveler participation will be critical and airline partners like United Airlines and Air India, which handle much of the inbound traffic from India to the launch airports in the U.S. and have been very supportive and have taken a proactive role in making this pilot program a success, XpresSpa said.
