PCR testing expands to other districts

18 January 2022

In response to delays and long lines of people waiting to undergo PCR tests at the South Sound Community Centre, Public Health is now offering daily confirmation testing in West Bay and Bodden Town for those who have returned positive lateral flow test results.

Testing locations and times are:

Ed Bush Sports Complex (West Bay), 1–2pm
Bodden Town Civic Centre, 1–2pm
South Sound Community Centre, 1–3pm

Public Health, in a statement Tuesday, said anyone who tests positive on a lateral flow test is required to get a confirmation PCR test at one of these three locations, and that these are the only sites where such tests can be done.

Traffic woes: The large numbers of people who have tested positive in LFT tests and who require confirmation PCR tests have led to major traffic issues along South Church Street. – Photo: Alvaro Serey

No Public Health-required confirmation testing is being carried out at the Cayman Islands Hospital, COVID clinic at MacLendon Drive, nor at private institutions, the department stated.

The three clinics will only provide confirmation tests of positive LFTs, and do not offer testing for travel purposes.

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Police on Monday had to close down part of South Church Street to accommodate the hundreds of people who turned up to get PCR tests. On Tuesday afternoon, there was again a large influx of people waiting to get tested.

Anyone testing positive in a home test, under current regulations, is required to notify Public Health. If a person, after travelling, tests positive in a day two, five or 10 LFT test at a certified medical facility, that facility will notify Public Health, but the individual is still required to get a PCR test from one of the above three clinics.

Long queues form outside the South Sound Community Centre on Tuesday, 18 Jan. Public Health has announced that two more testing clinics will open as of 18 Jan. – Photo: Alvaro Serey

Members of the public, on the instruction of Public Health, who undergo confirmation PCR tests are not required to pay for those tests, and the government will foot the bill.

Price reduced on PCR travel tests

However, anyone undergoing PCR tests for travel purposes, or other optional screening, is required to pay for the tests themselves.

On Monday night, Public Health announced that the cost of PCR tests for such purposes, at the Health Services Authority’s testing clinic at 131 MacLendon Drive, had been reduced from $120 to $75.

That clinic is open at the following times: