Covid-19: Govt Offer Free PCR & Antibody Tests
The Government is offering free PCR and antibody testing to the general public beginning Saturday, May 9th between 2pm – 7pm at the Southside Drive-through Testing Facility.
A Government spokesperson said, “To protect the health and safety of Bermuda, the Government has implemented an aggressive COVID-19 testing regime. To further achieve that objective the Government of Bermuda is offering free PCR and antibody testing to the general public beginning tomorrow, Saturday, May 9th between the hours of 2-7 pm at the Southside Drive-through Testing Facility.
“Polymerase chain reaction or PCR Testing detects the presence of the COVID-19, thus identifying persons that have an active infection with the virus; this test is administered through a nasal swab. PCR test results enable the Ministry of Health to detect who has an active infection, isolate them and identify those that they have been in contact with.
“The antibody test is to determine the presence of the body’s immune response or antibodies and is administered via a fingerpick blood sample. Simply put, this enables the detection of individuals who have had COVID-19 in the past, and who may have not been detected in previous testing regimes.
“The antibody testing will only be offered in conjunction with the PCR test, as an option for individuals who have scheduled an appointment at the Southside Drive-through Testing Facility.
“The goal of testing the general population for antibodies is to understand the prevalence of the virus on island. For this reason, individual antibody test results will not be provided at this time; PCR results will still be provided to physicians. In due course, the physicians of individuals who have elected to take the antibody test, will be informed on whether or not they have COVID-19 antibodies present in their bodies.”
Premier Burt remarked, “The work of Bermuda Government Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Carika Weldon has aided Bermuda’s globally recognised leadership position in COVID-19 testing. This leadership will be enhanced by the continuance of our aggressive PCR testing and the introduction of antibody testing to determine the reach of this virus in our community.
“Due to their higher risk of exposure, I encourage our essential workers to take advantage of this free testing and have themselves retested. Also, as this is the first time that this drive through testing has been opened to the public, I invite persons to book an appointment to be screened.”
“Appointments may be booked here.”
As the island and world deals with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are doing our best to provide timely and accurate information, and you can find more information on the links below.
- Live: Our continuously updated live blog here
- All: Our coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic here
- Official: The Bermuda Government website here
- World Stats: Live graph of all cases worldwide here
- Bermuda Stats: Chart of the Bermuda stats here
- Timeline: Visual look at the timeline here
- Comprehensive: Our new Covid-19 website here
Why they have to pair the PCR and antibody test makes no sense, I had symptoms which mirrored COVID-19 from christmas eve until after new years and have no need to take a antigen test. I guess I will remain untested.
I agree. What they’re doing doesn’t make any sense.
Don’t be so sure this test is accurate enough to determine immunity.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2020/5/7/21248734/coronavirus-antibody-tests-explained-covid-19-immunity-accurate
“The goal of testing the general population for antibodies is to understand the prevalence of the virus on island. For this reason, individual antibody test results will not be provided at this time”
We will perform medical tests on you but will not share your personal results with you.
Also, are you interested in learning more about our unified healthcare service?
I don’t understand why the individual will not be told the result of their antibody test.
Antibody tests? Who created these tests and have they been properly approved? According to all the news from around the world no one has yet made an accurate test. Hundreds of labs are working around the clock to develop these but still no consistently reliable test.
I am a uniformed essential worker. I did the test at the Southside Drive-through several weeks now and to date no one has contacted me with a result. Such a farce and waste of time coupled with the discomfort.
We had both tests done this weekend at Southside and they told us we will get both the results in a few days. Not sure why the public was confused on whether they’d be told their results?
Do they really think it’s acceptable to have someone take a medical test and keep the information only for themselves, not sharing with the patient.
What world are these jokers living in? Yes, let me just give the Government information about my body that I am not even to know about.
Insane.