Ichor Blood Services, located at 2 - 677 S. Railway Street SE, Medicine Hat is one place to get a COVID test if required before travelling.--NEWS PHOTO GILLIAN SLADE
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
There are now two options locally for anyone travelling and needing a COVID-19 test result in order to do so.
According to online sources there are nearly 70 countries accepting travellers from Canada, but they require a negative test with results in 24-48 hours of travel.
The reasons for travel include business or needing to reach family, and a small minority are choosing to spend winter in a warmer climate or take a vacation.
Ichor Blood Services on S. Railway Street in Medicine Hat is one location for the test, and Shoppers Drug Mart is launching its option Monday in select pharmacies in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario.
The UCP government announced in October that these tests would be offered by Dynalife, the provincial laboratory, for a fee of $150.
Mike Kuzmickas, founder and CEO of Ichor Blood Services, said his company has partnered with Dynalife to collect samples for testing in Medicine Hat.
Shoppers Drug Mart has specific conditions that must be met in order to book an appointment for a test, including details of the flight, not having any COVID symptoms and not already having been told by health authorities to get a test. There are no details yet of the fee. There is also no confirmation of which Shoppers Drug Mart in Medicine Hat may be offering the services. (See link below)
Ichor Blood Services will also provide serology tests to determine if someone has had COVID. The cost of that test is about $195. Ichor collects a blood sample and the actual serology testing is done at StageZero Life Sciences laboratory in Richmond, Va., using FDA EUA approved tests.StageZero initially runs a BTNX Rapid Response test on the blood sample. Negative antibody results from this initial test are more than 99 per cent accurate. The results are provided to the patient through a secure online portal.
If the initial test is positive on the IgG antibody, a second test is run using the Beckman Coulter Access test. If this is positive it will validate the presence of antibodies with a Positive Predictive Value of 99 per cent.
Ichor is legally allowed to offer the test for a fee because the laboratory work is being done in the U.S., said Kuzmickas.
https://www1.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/covid19
