Coronavirus

Demand For COVID-19 Testing Skyrockets At Airports

The Omicron variant is pushing people to open their wallets for COVID tests that you can often find for free outside of airports.

Demand For COVID-19 Testing Skyrockets At Airports
AP
SMS

The demand for COVID-19 testing is at a point that some people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a test at the airport before hopping on a flight.

At Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, some are paying between $45 and $275 for a test.

Air travel is up this holiday season compared to last year, estimating about six million people will fly for Christmas, and AAA says about 100 million people will travel by car this holiday. 

Many are taking precautions before they head out, whether it be getting tested or getting vaccinated.

President Biden promised last week the federal government will buy half a billion rapid COVID tests and offer them free of charge, but details on how that is all going to work are still to be worked out an actual implementation is likely a few weeks away.