Airport, hospital system team up to test flyers for COVID-19

TAMPA — In what it says is the first initiative of its kind in the country, Tampa International Airport has launched a program that will provide COVID-19 tests for arriving and departing passengers.

According to a press release, the testing site, located inside TIA’s main terminal near the Airside F shuttle, will be operated by Clearwater-based BayCare Health System, whose staff will administer two FDA-approved tests: the rapid antigen test and the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test. The latter is regarded as the most accurate and broadly accepted test, internationally.