‘Test to Go’ app could boost international travel
A new mobile phone app that helps people conduct rapid Covid-19 tests and get an instant digital certificate could help the industry get back on its feet
The free app is available for business and private travellers and has been designed by British company Excalibur Healthcare Services.
It aims to make it easier for people to go to work, enjoy leisure activities or travel abroad for domestic or business reasons and has a setting for businesses, which should help employers in the travel and health sectors.
Recording users Covid-19 test results
The ‘Test To Go’ App is used in conjunction with a lateral flow test, with results submitted to the Public Health England national database. It can also record the user’s PCR test results from the laboratory if required for travel purposes, as well as whether that person has received one or two vaccinations.
Professor Chris Evans, Chairman and CEO of Excalibur Healthcare Services, said the development could play an important part in helping businesses and their employees get back to normal. “People can go to their offices or get on a train or a plane knowing exactly their Covid-19 status,” Evans explained. “We think this will also be an invaluable tool in the entertainment sector.
“Every effort needs to be made to ensure that infection rates are kept under control. Taking a reliable test and creating a credible digital record of the result will be extremely useful in doing this and it is important that test results are submitted to the national database.”
Meanwhile, the bosses of easyJet, British Airways, Ryanair, Jet2 and Tui UK have hit out at the government’s lack of transparency over decisions behind traffic light destinations.
ITIJ reported last week on a letter written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson by airline firms asking the government to stick to the framework of the Global Travel Task Force’s traffic light system rather than separately advising people not to visit amber-listed countries.