IATA: New research backs rapid testing for safe and efficient restart of air travel

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged governments to accept best-in-class rapid antigen tests in fulfilment of COVID -19 testing requirements following the publication of new research by OXERA and Edge Health. The OXERA-Edge Health report, commissioned by IATA, found that antigen tests are accurate, convenient and cost efficient. The best antigen tests provide broadly comparable results to PCR tests in accurately identifying infected travellers. The BinaxNOW antigen test, for example, misses just one positive case in 1000 travellers (based on an infection rate of 1% among travellers). And it has similarly comparable performance to PCR tests in levels