KEY POINTS
- XpresCheck rapid COVID tests began at JFK and Liberty airports Wednesday
- The company hopes to expand nationwide
- The test delivers results in 13 minutes
The airline industry, devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, is about to get a boost: Health and wellness company XpresSpa Group Inc. began conducting rapid COVID-19 testing at Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey, with plans to expand the program nationwide.
With the pandemic still raging across the United States, Americans have been reluctant to get on airplanes, with the total number of passengers averaging about 25% of last year’s levels.
More than 7.5 million Americans have been infected by the coronavirus and more than 211,000 have died from COVID-19.
Though the virus doesn’t spread easily on flights because of air circulation systems, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns exposure to people in close quarters and