What's more, the process of the antigen test is simple: a CQC regulated health professional takes a saliva sample or ‘cheek scrape’ (both quicker and less invasive than the PCR swabs to the back of the nose and throat), which can then be analysed within maximum 20 minutes with an overall accuracy of 98.98 per cent.

Face-to-face time between nurse and patient is as little as five minutes, and a tamper-proof partner health app designed to inform travellers of their results while on the move prevents a build-up of people waiting to hear whether they need to quarantine .

Since the test does not require analytical machines, mobile labs or cold storage, it is also significantly more scalable – Tried&Tested has stated that it could deliver millions of tests each week.

“If you’re talking about doing mass scale testing where you’ve got hundreds, if not thousands, of people flooding through – that could be anywhere from theatres, airports, shopping malls, stadiums, anywhere you want to do an awful lot of people at any one time – you’ve got a rapid test that doesn’t need a machine or a lab, and is easy to do, and relatively cheap,” said Thonger.

“ It’s a killer combination and that’s why we’re getting so much interest in it right now .”

The tests are ready to go and now just await Government approval , but as calls continue to mount from the beleaguered travel industry, as well as senior MPs and health professionals, for a viable alternative to quarantine, a testing programme could be in place by the end of the month.

A quick, accurate Covid test could be in UK airports by the end of the month
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/test4...-airports/