By HARUNA ISHIKAWA/ Staff Writer
July 30, 2020 at 17:36 JST
Arriving passengers, left, submit saliva samples for antigen testing to quarantine officers at Narita Airport on July 29. (Yoshifumi Fukuda)
Saliva-based antigen tests that dramatically shorten the testing time for COVID-19 started on July 29 at Haneda and Narita airports.
The antigen tests will be offered at Kansai Airport starting on Aug. 1.
Compared with collecting mucus at the back of the nose, taking a saliva sample is much less intrusive.
Antigen tests for the novel coronavirus also provide results much quicker than polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
Although it takes about six hours to complete a PCR test, antigen tests can be processed in only about an hour. According to the health ministry, the accuracy rate of antigen tests is almost the same as for PCR tests.
The government is seeking to increase the testing capacity at airports to meet the growing demand as more travelers are crossing international borders.
According to the health ministry, the daily testing capacity at quarantine stations, such as airports, is expected to increase from 2,300 to 4,300. The government aims to increase the capacity to more than 10,000 a day in September.
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