Dec. 21—CLEVELAND, Ohio — Travelers at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport soon will be able to get tested for coronavirus before they board their flights, starting as early as Tuesday.
TACKL Health is setting up a COVID testing facility in the main ticketing concourse, near the central TSA checkpoint. The Georgia company will offer both rapid antigen tests, which provide results in 15 minutes, as well as more-accurate molecular PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, which provide results in 24 to 48 hours.
Cleveland Hopkins is the third airport to host a TACKL facility, although a growing number of U.S. and international airports offer on-site COVID testing.
The increase in pre-travel testing is seen as both an effort to promote traveler safety and a response to the growing number of U.S. states and international destinations that require a negative COVID test for entry.
Lauren Hetzel, vice president of business development for TACKL, said she expects travelers to make up the majority of the company's Cleveland business, although the testing site is open to the public. Appointments are not required and COVID symptoms are not necessary to receive a test.
The testing site will be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The company does not currently accept health insurance. The rapid antigen test is priced at $95, the PCR is $135.
This month, the company opened a COVID testing operation at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A testing site at Pittsburgh International Airport is expected to open today.
The company was founded this year, a collaboration between health professionals and entrepreneurs in Georgia, formed in response to the growing need for testing among businesses, schools and government.
"We're growing far, far faster than we expected," Hetzel said.
Eventually, she expects the company to offer additional services, as vaccines replace the need for widespread COVID testing. "We're not going to go back to travel the way it was before," she said. "We will pivot into what that next need is that keeps people safe."
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