COVID-19 testing at Sydney Airport comes to an end after 500,000 passengers swabbed

Sydney Airport's COVID-19 testing clinic will close tomorrow after swabbing 500,000 travellers over nearly three years.

An on-the-spot clinic first opened in December 2020 at the request of local health authorities before a dedicated testing facility built across from the T1 international terminal opened in November 2021.

But as most airlines phased out mandatory testing over the past year year, the demand for on-site swabbing dwindled.

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The Histopath Diagnostic Services clinic will swab its last passengers tomorrow, marking a new era of post-COVID recovery for the aviation and travel industry.

At the clinic's peak over the 2022 April school holidays, it tested 2500 passengers in one day, with a team of 40 nurses.

"The testing clinic played a vital role in bringing air travel back and we are grateful to Histopath for providing this essential service for last two and a half years," Sydney Airport chief operations officer Sidone Thomas said.

"With restrictions and testing requirements now all but gone, confidence in travel is strong again.

"Our T1 international terminal is humming with passenger numbers now edging closer to pre-pandemic levels."

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