TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin I’ve see the future of testing for SXM

At 2:34pm I swabbed myself in the car in a drive-through behind Walgreens. Reservation made Saturday. Wait in drive through 5 minutes.
At 3:07pm I received an email the results were in. Click on link - negative for Covid.

Abbott laboratories test. Obviously the Test equipment was in the Walgreens itself and moves around to different sites.

They could to this Test at origin airports, Gates, connecting airports and destination airports like SXM.

Do you live in a big city?

https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/covid19/testing

6th largest in Ohio, but they move around. Click on your state.

This won’t be for everybody, but it does prove the ability exist, it just needs to be scaled up. We’ve been tested 3 times. The first 2 took 48 hours give/take for results.

The tech told us a few hours, but it was about 30 minutes.

I’m sure the line is long for the Abbott equipment but if I were SXM, I’d get in line.

Why you being tested so often? Three times and I can't get one test.

At which Dayton location did you find this service?

Doesn't SXM require a specific type of test that involves a deep nasal swab? Don't think you can self administer that/ Does to result form say what kind?

There are four companies that produce testing materials that give results in 30 minutes or less (Abbott...5 minutes) and they ave been proven to be accurate...but....it's up to the destination country/state to decide which are acceptable TO THEM....and this creates an issue that SHOULD be easy to deal with but......

I'll wait for the vaccine... NOT!

Why?

Tested at a clinic attached to Trillium Hospital in Mississauga, just west of Toronto. Went Sunday around noon, was 2nd in line outside and once inside was still 2nd. Testing was both nasal and throat the latter being the worst part...I apologized for gagging 2X. Results online next day by 1030AM. Cost to me was $0. I mentioned that I lived with a working flight attendant who mostly does Toronto-BOS; Toronto -EWR, Toronto-DC, Toronto-ATL and they said come back in 14 days if I wanted to be re-tested. I will go this week for re-testing in order to visit my 89 yr old step-mom. Her long term care facility has had a few 14 day lock downs so part of their protocol is the requirement for a test.

Last week Ontario and Federal govt launched Android and Apple app whereby via bluetooth your phone receives notice if you have been near someone in the last 14 days, with the app running, who has identified themselves as positive. It doesn't tell you who that person is but simply gives you a heads up so that you can choose follow-up testing. App was built with input from the Ontario Privacy Commissioner who fully endorses its use. One weak link is it depends on positives to add that little tidbit of info to their app.

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-hea...avirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html

SXM requires the common PCR test, which does involve a nasal swab that I don’t think can be done with a self-test. I mean, the swab really gets up there to the point where you feel like it’s going to pop out your eyeball. Anyway, if you go to a drive thru site or even an immediate care facility they will give you this test. The REAL problem for those of us in the USA is almost all of these tests have an emergency use autho from the FDA which St Maarten has declared unacceptable. I’ve been able to get results in under 72 hours here in Western NY, but can’t seem to find a test that doesn’t have the FDA stamp on it.

At our ages if it gives us several more visits to our favorite island I'll die happy