Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
No free COVID-19 tests for travellers at gov’t. facilities – GPHC
Passengers being sanitized as they disembark an aircraft at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
Kaieteur News – The Head of Strategic Planning and Communications at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Chelauna Providence, have informed Kaieteur News that no free COVID-19 tests will be granted to travellers at government health facilities.
With commercial flights now entering and leaving Guyana, persons have flocked various public health clinics, including GPHC, requesting COVID-19 tests for travel purposes. Their requests were turned down by health workers who advised that they head to Eureka Lab, a private laboratory, located on Thomas Street, Georgetown, to get their tests done.
However, some travellers were angered and complained that a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for COVID-19 at the private laboratory is too expensive. Earlier this year, it was reported that the PCR test which is required by some countries for travel will cost $25,000 at Eureka Lab. The angry travellers, who visited this media house with their concerns, claimed that as citizens of Guyana they are entitled to free COVID-19 test.
Speaking on behalf of GPHC, Providence explained that it is the hospital’s policy to grant free tests to individuals with COVID-19 symptoms and those who were exposed to the virus. Moreover, she added that this policy is not only limited to GPHC but to all Government health facilities, be it health centers, clinics or mobile testing units.
Providence detailed that it is advised by both health professionals and organizations that the best option is not to travel during the pandemic. With this being said, Providence told this newspaper that her bosses have taken a stance that if persons decide to travel, they are doing so at their own discretion.
“Hence our staff will advise travellers who seek a PCR test to get one from Eureka Lab or a private health facility,” said the GPHC Head of Communications. Meanwhile, Kaieteur News has been reliably informed that not all countries require a COVID-19 PCR test result from incoming passengers.
Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Egbert Field, explained that each country has its own requirements for entry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Some countries like Guyana require that a passenger present a negative PCR COVID-19 test result before traveling while others don’t,” said Field.
Field also said that it is the same with the United States of America (US), “there are some states in the US that require the PCR test result while others don’t.”
Recently, it was not required of travellers to present a Negative PCR test result when travelling to New York but this has changed. According to the New York Department of Health’s webpage, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, announced a new guideline for travellers to the state.
For persons who had been out of New York for more than 24 hrs. it is required that they ‘obtain a test within three days prior to arrival.’ Travellers will also have to be quarantined for three days and conduct a second test.
The Barbadian government also requires of travellers entering its island to obtain a test within three days prior to arrival. The Barbados immigration website stated “if the traveller is from a low risk-country then passengers are allowed to obtain their PCR test within five days prior to arrival.”
For Canada this requirement has not yet been implemented. However, persons traveling to Canada will have to be isolated upon arrival for 14 days.
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