4 ms·

We should be doing in flight testing. PCR the cabin air and the waste stream. Swab everyone and group test them. Then if there's a positive you hold everyone

• throwanem 6y ago
  Given that the tests take days to come back, this would imply at minimum a need for in-flight refueling and lots of extra galley supplies. Between that and the space taken up by a PCR lab, I doubt there'd be many revenue seats left. Better to just not put anyone on the aircraft at all, I think. Especially since in-flight refueling of airliners isn't actually a thing that can happen.
  • bhickey 6y ago
    The PCR alone takes a couple of hours to run. Labs have significant turn around time because they're taking samples from various testing locations and running them centrally. Plus hardly anyone is running group testing. You swab everyone at boarding and run the test near the airport. For a transatlantic flight, the lab work will beat the plane every time. If you want to add on environmental testing we're looking at a quarantine several hours long at the point of arrival. There's growing evidence that saliva testing is reliable, so the procedure can be far less invasive than nasopharyngeal swabs. And, yes, I agree. There are very few reasons anyone should be flying right now, mostly limited to "I need to be in place X or I will die."