COVID-19 testing center hours?

garykool81

SBH Insider
Looking online, it appears that the clinic that performs the COVID-19 testing for arrivals on St. Barths (assuming we do not have our results in time since it takes up to five days in the US) is only open until 1:00PM Monday through Friday and closed on the weekends.

Is this accurate, or does that only refer to the hours of the actual medical clinic itself and not the drive-through COVID-19 testing?

If it is accurate, that would mean anyone arriving on an afternoon flight on a Friday or over the weekend would not even be able to get tested until Monday.

Hoping someone actually on the island has information on this. Tradewind wasn't sure, unfortunately.
 
Here is the phone number perhaps a call will give you the exact info you need 06 90 61 50 89.
 
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That phone number 06 90 61 50 89 belongs to a wonderful American woman by the name of Donna Cohen AKA Donna Del Sol, who used to have a jewelry store in town. She can help you but she says yes, if you need to be tested and arrive here on a weekend, you cannot go out until you have the test and then again until you have the results. So your best bet is to overnight in San Juan at the airport then take the early morning Tradewind flight and get the test upon arrival... making sure you have made the appointment in the past. No one will police you but yourself, so please be like Spike Lee and do the right thing!

If you are transiting in SXM after 7/1/20 it is a moot point as they have just said it is required to present a less than 72 hours negative test result .... so testing required in advance to go via Juliana.

Lab info if you need to schedule a test:
Phone: +590 590297502
Or: +590 976027544
Or by email covid19sbh@biopoleantilles.com
 
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So if a negative test result is required in order to fly into SXM, will it be the airlines' responsibility to check those results prior to allowing a traveler to board? Kind of like traveling with a pet only now we are the animals.
 
That phone number 06 90 61 50 89 belongs to a wonderful American woman by the name of Donna Cohen AKA Donna Del Sol, who used to have a jewelry store in town. She can help you but she says yes, if you need to be tested and arrive here on a weekend, you cannot go out until you have the test and then again until you have the results. So your best bet is to overnight in San Juan at the airport then take the early morning Tradewind flight and get the test upon arrival... making sure you have made the appointment in the past. No one will police you but yourself, so please be like Spike Lee and do the right thing!

If you are transiting in SXM after 7/1/20 it is a moot point as they have just said it is required to present a less than 72 hours negative test result .... so testing required in advance to go via Juliana.

Very helpful! Thank you!

I did have an opportunity to connect via email with the clinic this morning. Effectively, they indicated that for the time being their *very* short hours are accurate, however, that those hours could change. One would hope that they switch to a 7-day operation soon given that the bulk of tourists arrive on weekends -- this will unquestionably be in the interest of all parties involved. They recommended making the appointment in advance of your trip for the most flexibility with scheduling an appointment.

In our case, we are arriving on a Thursday afternoon in the coming weeks (just moved up a day from Friday afternoon specifically to avoid being sequestered all weekend). We'll be getting tested before we arrive, but we all know that America has been quite unreliable with turnaround time on PCR tests (everyone says 2-5 days), and RT-PCR tests are all but impossible to find in most areas in the US unless you are actually symptomatic and in a high risk group.

Fingers crossed for a switch to a 7-day schedule or an increased availability of RT-PCR testing here in the States!
 
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A word of caution. It's being reported that EU countries are discussing banning travelers from the US due to the tremendous spikes in cases underway in some states - TX & FL - as well as our general inability to get our collective act together in terms of the discipline it takes to reduce the numbers of new cases. I would imagine the high levels of resistance to wearing masks, covered so thoroughly in our media, don't help either.
 
Now I'm second-guessing myself and wondering if Donna's number should have been left in the posts.
 
A word of caution. It's being reported that EU countries are discussing banning travelers from the US due to the tremendous spikes in cases underway in some states - TX & FL - as well as our general inability to get our collective act together in terms of the discipline it takes to reduce the numbers of new cases. I would imagine the high levels of resistance to wearing masks, covered so thoroughly in our media, don't help either.

Yes, I've been closely following the news. No guarantee that St. Barts would choose to follow suit, and chances are that they would not given the heavy reliance here on tourism dollars from the US. I can't say I blame anyone, though. We (along with Brazil and Russia) are spectacularly failing at what has proven to be a rather easy virus to contain once we just accept the very modest sacrifice of wearing a mask outside our homes for a few months until a vaccine is readily available.
 
A word of caution. It's being reported that EU countries are discussing banning travelers from the US due to the tremendous spikes in cases underway in some states - TX & FL - as well as our general inability to get our collective act together in terms of the discipline it takes to reduce the numbers of new cases. I would imagine the high levels of resistance to wearing masks, covered so thoroughly in our media, don't help either.

From a news source:

BRUSSELS — European Union countries rushing to revive their economies and reopen their borders after months of coronavirus restrictions are prepared to block Americans from entering because the United States has failed to control the scourge, according to draft lists of acceptable travelers reviewed by The New York Times.

That prospect, which would lump American visitors in with Russians and Brazilians as unwelcome, is a stinging blow to American prestige in the world and a repudiation of President Trump’s handling of the virus in the United States, which has more than 2.3 million cases and upward of 120,000 deaths, more than any other country.

European nations are currently haggling over two potential lists of acceptable visitors based on how countries are faring with the coronavirus pandemic. Both lists include China, as well as developing nations like Uganda, Cuba and Vietnam. Both also exclude the United States and other countries that were deemed too risky because of the spread of the virus.

Travelers from the United States and the rest of the world already had been excluded from visiting the European Union — with few exceptions mostly for repatriations or “essential travel” — since mid-March. But a final decision on reopening the borders is expected early next week, before the bloc reopens on July 1.
 
Donna Cohen 06 90 61 50 89 (official contact re: Covid testing for tourists-she is American and very savvy!)
Email: doroco@orange.fr

She notes:
A PCR test is required to enter island, preferable less than 72 hours of arrival. If not possible, it is necessary to have a scheduled test within a day of arrival.

The Lab number is: +590 590297502
Or: +590 976027544
Or by email covid19sbh@biopoleantilles.com
Saturdays there is testing available in outside drive just beside The Collectivité, results by email in a few hours.
For arriving passengers of Saturday afternoon or Sundays, next testing available Monday morning.

Donna will be more than happy to answer any questions for future travelers
 
Thanks Ellen. I've gone back and un-muddied the waters which I muddied.

no problem, perhaps my note about Donna was confusing, but she is here to help!

by the way, people planning on traveling here should note this post from the CDC. My daughter wanted to come in July but her boss is requiring a two-week self quarantine before anyone returns to work from an international destination, as she works at an assisted living facility where the residents are vulnerable. So you might want to check and see what your office requires.... for those who might work in an office or other such setting...
[FONT=&quot][h=1]Returning from international travel[/h][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

There is widespread, ongoing transmission of novel coronavirus worldwide (see Global COVID-19 Pandemic Notice). If you have traveled internationally in the past 14 days, stay home and monitor your health.


[/FONT]
 
Also getting a doctor's appointment may be delayed after an international trip. I had a routine appointment yesterday and that was on the questionaire.
 
Yes, I've been closely following the news. No guarantee that St. Barts would choose to follow suit, and chances are that they would not given the heavy reliance here on tourism dollars from the US. I can't say I blame anyone, though. We (along with Brazil and Russia) are spectacularly failing at what has proven to be a rather easy virus to contain once we just accept the very modest sacrifice of wearing a mask outside our homes for a few months until a vaccine is readily available.
Altho' I've done my best to understand the seemingly complex chain of authority or, conversely, autonomy that governs St. Barth in such matters I'm still under the impression that the decision of Metro France will have some standing in regard to St. Barth opening to flights and to visitors from the US. Will someone with a handle on governance of the island please clarify this point?
 
It appears they follow the French decision until they don't! Seriously, it is usually a very localized decision - kids back in school because the virus is not (apparently) on the island.
 
As of now the French gov't has given St Barth the green light to "open" internally with no real restrictions other than large assemblies of hundreds of people, and they have approved unrestricted travel between the French islands. The rules for tourists have been spelled out here. There is a margin for self-policing involved, so if cases of Covid-19 start to really spike, the French gov't might take another look, but for the moment the president and senator, Bruno and Michel Magras, have convinced Paris that the island needs the economic stimulus brought by tourism.... clear as mud, right?
 
Thank you, JEK and Ellen. The hypothetical situation I envisioned was that France might decide to bar travelers from the US as well as Brazil, for example, and order the Islands to do the same. We have vouchers from Delta, SBC, and one of two lodging venues as a result of cancelling our April visit. Paralysis has set in in regard to what to do next. Bravo, to those intrepid souls who have forged ahead. I, on the other hand, have a sinking feeling the SBC and lodging vouchers may never be used.
 
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