Passengers boarding Patriot Express flights departing from the Seattle-Tacoma and Baltimore-Washington airports will be subject to random COVID-19 testing starting next week.

According to an Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center advisory, the rapid onsite tests are intended to stop the spread of the virus.

"The Department of Defense is aggressively working to keep passengers safe and help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on Patriot Express flights by developing a plan for rapid, on-site testing," Air Mobility Command spokeswoman Capt. Nikki Ferrara said Thursday.

AMC oversees the charter flights for the Patriot Express, which is the Department of Defense's contracted commercial charter flight system. It's used by service members and their families for official international travel. The system also provides seats on a space-available basis to certain qualifying veterans, retirees and federal employees, though restrictions were placed on that part of the program in March.

Those who test positive will not be allowed to board their flight.

The United States has had more than 8 million confirmed coronavirus infections and more than 221,000 deaths since the pandemic began this spring.

Related Links
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Wake Island Airfield undergoes $87M upgrade; Ceremony marks end of Marines' 'Tomcats'
Washington (UPI) Oct 19, 2019
The Wake Island Airfield, regarded as among the most isolated installations in the U.S. military, is undergoing an $87 million upgrade, the Air Force said. The infrastructure modernizations include improvements to the deteriorating runway, new lighting, and grounding and pavement markings to support mission readiness and global air mobility, the Air Force Civil Engineering Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, announced. California-based contractor AECOM won the contract for ... read more