Following the announcement by the U.S. that all inbound travellers must have a negative test within 24 hours of departure, the MDL lab “will provide a quick turnaround of antigen test result certification,” the Ministry said today.
A Government spokesperson said, “The United States Government announced yesterday that effective December 6, the United States will tighten pre-departure Covid-19 testing protocols by requiring all inbound international travellers to test within 24 hours of departure globally, regardless of nationality or vaccination status.
“To meet this requirement, through the MDL lab, the Ministry of Health will provide a quick turnaround of antigen test result certification beginning on December 5.
“Sunday outbound testing will be available at the Perot testing site temporarily, and residents must phone the Covid hotline for an appointment at 444-2498. Effective Monday, community testing sites will accommodate outbound testing.
“At present, the Ministry automatically provides an outbound test appointment for visitors 48hrs before their departure. Those visitors’ appointments have already been moved to 24hrs prior to departure, with the paperwork flagged as antigen, and the travellers have been notified. Visitors will be swabbed at Perot Post Office as before, with MDL verifying the result via the quicker antigen test process.
“For residents seeking to leave the island, appointments for outbound must be made between 10am and 12pm daily only. Walk-ins are not allowed for travel test purposes. Additionally several private labs are available to do antigen testing and provide the required certification for travel. If testing at a community site, residents will be able to select ‘outbound travel’ as the reason for the test.
“MDL will update the test results in the online system, and trigger the result email with the necessary travel certificate. Any PCR test sample identified for outbound travel will be prioritized by MDL.
“The Ministry is confident that visitors and residents seeking to travel to the US will be able to source the required, timely antigen test.
“We have received queries from medical practices regarding the provision of antigen testing for outbound travel, and the Ministry will be producing guidance for this.”
