SINGAPORE - Scores of anxious passengers with a seat on China-bound flights showed up at the former Shuqun Secondary School on Wednesday morning (Aug 26) to be tested for Covid-19.

The last-minute tests come after Chinese Embassy here announced on its website last Friday that from Aug 28, all travellers from Singapore to China will have to take a Covid-19 test within five days before their flight to the country to ensure they are free of the coronavirus.

Passengers who are booked on Flight TR100 bound for Guangzhou on Aug 30 was alerted to the new requirement in an urgent e-mail sent by Scoot on Tuesday afternoon.

The e-mail added that "testing arrangements have been made by the relevant authorities and must be strictly adhered to".

Passengers on that flight were instructed to go for the test at the regional screening centre located at the former Shuqun Secondary School in Jurong East between 9am and 10.30am on Wednesday.

Scoot said on Wednesday that it "got to know of the requirements on Aug 21", and "endeavoured to inform passengers directly of the requirements to the best of its ability through e-mail, SMS and calls".

A spokesman added that flight TR100 on Sunday is the first Scoot flight where passengers are subject to the new testing requirements.

All passengers who miss flights from Singapore to China because they could not be tested in time can request to be re-booked to the next available flight or claim a full refund.

On Wednesday night, the authorities said there are more time slots for passengers leaving for China by Monday.

They can take the test at the Jurong centre, which is open from 9am to noon and 1pm to 4pm daily, until Sunday, said a joint statement from several ministries, including Transport, Health and Manpower.

When The Straits Times visited the testing centre on Wednesday, more than 200 people were there waiting to be tested. Some came with their families.

The passengers had tickets on flights operated by Scoot and China Southern Airlines to various Chinese cities and had to show these to security personnel before they were allowed to be tested.

One passenger, who wanted to be known only as Mr Chen, told ST that he was supposed to fly home to Guangzhou on Flight TR100. Mr Chen, who was at the testing centre with his wife, was worried about whether the flight would go ahead on Sunday.

"This was a mess from the start. We thought we would finally be able to see our families, but our flights kept getting changed.

"Now with this testing, I'm not sure if there will be more delays," said the engineer, who is in his 40s.

The Chens said they have not seen their son in months. Speaking with tears in her eyes, Mrs Chen said: "I miss my family a lot. It has been distressing for us to not know when we can go back. I hope they will have some understanding about the difficulties we faced to even get this flight ticket."

The couple added that they had tried to book other flights home but experienced a lot of difficulty as tickets were snapped up quickly.

Some were unhappy that the test was sprung on them.

Ms Lin Yuling, an accountant who works in Singapore, said: "We were informed late last night that this would happen...

"There were a lot more people here than expected, and we are not sure how our travel plans will be affected now."

The 36-year-old, who was planning to go to Tianjin with her husband next Sunday, added that she was told that passengers have to pay for the test, which costs $186.

According to the Scoot e-mail, passengers must pay for the test before the results can be released to them.

Scoot also said that as the test results will require a turnaround time of 48 hours, passengers must adhere to the time slot for the test to be able to receive the results in time for the flight on Aug 30.

The Chinese Embassy said on its website last Friday that it will take at least one working day for test results to be verified after passengers submit test results to the embassy via e-mail.

Passengers who test negative for the virus and have filled in a health declaration form will be issued a certified health declaration form with an official embassy seal.

The certified form is required for passengers who board flights to China.

The passengers did not have to pay on the spot at the testing centre, but had to give their banking information such as credit card details, as well as their contact information.

A construction worker, who wanted to be known only as Mr Wang, said he will ask his employer for help to pay as he could not afford the test.

"Being made to pay for this test all of a sudden is an additional burden. I will ask my employer for help because it is not easy for people like us to just fork out $186," said Mr Wang, who was going home to Xi'an.

A 23-year-old student, Mr Yu, who was planning to fly to Tianjin on Sept 2, said he was told to take the test even though his flight was cancelled.

"I spoke to a Chinese Embassy official here who apologised for the inconvenience, since we aren't even sure if we can fly back after all of this mess," he said.

"Can't we get swabbed at the airport? Why is there this mass of people gathered here? It's frustrating."