Testing For Coronavirus At The Airport?

by SharonKurheg

When you’re a business that provides a service and you’re dealing with an international pandemic, it sometimes makes you think outside of the box. Restaurants and bars have turned into take-outs. Schools are being run remotely. And an airport chain is offering their facilities as testing locations for coronavirus.

Xpress Spa is an airport spa chain with services such as facials, manicures, pedicures, massages, and more. It was founded in 2003 and has since grown to 46 locations throughout the U.S.

All Xpress Spa locations are currently closed. With travel bans in place, airports practically empty, and contact-based activities frowned upon (if not actively banned), the spaces are just sitting there, empty.

So they’ve offered their locations as potential testing sites for coronavirus.

They’ve pitched their idea to among others, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services, as well as private laboratories across the country.

”We believe we can we help alleviate some of the long waits for travelers entering the US but we can also be available to test TSA employees, pilots, flight attendants and other airport personnel who are on the front lines helping to keep our nation safe,” said Doug Satzman, Chief Executive Officer of XpressSpa.

All of the company’s employees are TSA security approved so they could be deployed immediately. The company’s massage therapists require processional licensure to practice in nearly all states and are therefore already well versed in disease containment as part of regularly scheduled continuing education that’s required for re-licensure.

“As the largest operator of health and wellness spas located within these US point of entry airports, we believe our facilities could be of great utility in helping our government test people as quickly as possible.” continued Salzman. “We will work closely with local airport authorities on all plans. While we cannot ensure that an arrangement will ultimately be consummated, we remain optimistic that we can play a vital role with some of these entities.”

*** Feature photo (cropped): “coronavirus” by Chad Davis is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

#stayhealthy #stayathome #washyourhands

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

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