Andrew has raised concerns that festive visitors to the North East face a quarantine-breaking trip to the Central Belt to get the Covid all-clear.
Health secretary Humza Yousaf has been urged to expand day 2 rapid-test facilities to those flying into Aberdeen international airport, matching the process for departures.
Everyone aged 11 or over needs to take such a test after arriving in Scotland, if they are fully vaccinated and not flying from a red list country. They should isolate until receiving a negative result.
At present, only sites in Edinburgh and Glasgow are able to process same-day tests.
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie is dealing with two cases where visitors face a lengthy postal process over the festive period, meaning they can’t reach a funeral and a family gathering respectively.
The Conservative MP Mr Bowie is worried this means some travellers will be tempted to test the “purpose” of the isolation period and go to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
He has asked Mr Yousaf to make rapid testing available to a “wider part of Scotland” as private testing isn’t available due to “prohibitive” costs and a postal test may take up to eight working days to process.
He said:
“The alternative, in order to receive a rapid PCR result, is for the travellers to undertake further journeys to one of the two accredited rapid test facilities in Edinburgh or Glasgow, hardly in keeping with the purpose of isolation.
“With Aberdeen Airport being a hub in the North East for international travel it would be ideal to have rapid testing facilities associated with one of the private companies currently offering outbound PCR testing in Aberdeen. However, I understand that registration costs, to allow linking into the passenger locator forms, is highly prohibitive.
“I would be grateful for your consideration of this matter and to know how the Scottish Government is acting to make the required testing facilities available to a wider part of Scotland.”
The full letter to Mr Yousaf is here;
