72 Hour COVID-19 RT-PCR test

Wanted to provide an update...in NYC, my wife and kids scheduled a virtual appt with NYU. They were then given an order for a PCR test at the hospital. The hospital turned around the test in 24hrs BUT it is an EUA test that WILL NOT be accepted at SXM but will at SBH. We are going thru SJU, so not an issue for us.

Due to some unlucky past illness, i have carte blanche at Cornell and was able to get a non-EUA COVID test turned around in 1hr.

Net- head to the hospitals in the NYC area for quick results.
 
TCP,
Can you provide more details, please? You mentioned that you had a virtual appointment "with NYU" and a test at "the hospital." Can you provide a phone number or office name for your contact (or for the clinic) at NYU? Can you name "the hospital" and tell us where it is located? Thanks.
 
TCP,
Can you provide more details, please? You mentioned that you had a virtual appointment "with NYU" and a test at "the hospital." Can you provide a phone number or office name for your contact (or for the clinic) at NYU? Can you name "the hospital" and tell us where it is located? Thanks.
Last week my daughter came down with cold symptoms (in NYC) and had a virtual appointment with her NYU doctor who told her that her best bet for a Covid test was the local Urgent Care on the Upper East Side of NY. He told her that test results in NYC were coming back in 5- 14 days. He was unable to provide any information on getting a "rapid test" that there is so much talk about and did not offer a PCR referral to the hospital, even though she had some suspicious symptoms. I don't believe you can just walk into a hospital and ask for a Covid test with rapid results. Must have doctor referral. Daughter had test at urgent care and got negative results 5 days later. Not a very encouraging experience with regard to being able to get a test result within 3 day travel requirement. It might take more resourcefulness than I am capable of for sure!
 
Krand,
That's discouraging. I've tried to track down a half dozen leads on possible ways to get a fast Covid-19 test in the Northeast U.S., and most of the leads have been disappointing. Even a promise of "2 or 3 days" -- which is much rarer than the usual response of "5 to 7 days" -- leaves me nervous.
 
Thank you Amy, she is fine, just a nasty summer cold. Which she then promptly passed on to us! It does make me nervous thinking about the upcoming cold/flu season here in NY. Anyone with a cough and the sniffles (which is all she had) will go running to take a Covid test just as she did. Oh what fun.

So we will have to content ourselves with living our St Barths lives vicariously through all you lucky folks who are currently there! Stay healthy and safe.
 
Thank you. Glad it was just a cold.

People here flinch if anyone coughs or sneezes. Nerve wracking times.
 
I know! I was in a nail salon and had a piece of Werthers in my mouth and swallowed wrong, choked and then practically choked myself trying not to cough! I was terrified of being vilified and run out of the salon with hisses and insults slung after me. ;) It's going to get very interesting here in the States in a couple of months!
 
Sorry for the delayed reply- we had to navigate Laura and finally settled in.

My wife and kids had the exact opposite experience with NYU- the kids PCP is affiliated with NYU and just put an order in for PCR to be done at the hospital location.

my wife had a virtual consult, said she was around covid positive people, and the virtual doc sent on the order and she went to the hospital and got the pcr in 1 day.

maybe just push for an on-location test?
 
I would also say the island seem to be relying on the airlines for checking paperwork as Tradewind was much more thorough vs SBH when I arrived....
 
Sorry for the delayed reply- we had to navigate Laura and finally settled in.

My wife and kids had the exact opposite experience with NYU- the kids PCP is affiliated with NYU and just put an order in for PCR to be done at the hospital location.

my wife had a virtual consult, said she was around covid positive people, and the virtual doc sent on the order and she went to the hospital and got the pcr in 1 day.

maybe just push for an on-location test?

I am so happy that you guys ran the gauntlet and got through. I am unsure that we are as willing to to run this. It needs to be a more straight forward path for us, with no supterfuge when dealing with doctors, etc. That is not meant as a criticism in any way. I just mean that I am not equal to the resourcefulness that the plan might require. Unless the travel restrictions to St Barths ease up in the next 6 weeks (highly unlikely) we will cancel our plans for our November 7 trip. Which is a sad and tough thing for me to have to say.
 
Hi All! I actually created a website called www.rapidtesttravel.com and you can search by state where to do the test near you. It's completely free for everyone. If you know of a location that is not listed, you can easily add it as well for other travelers. Please share with all friends & family so everyone can come and enjoy the Caribbean.
 
I had previously posted about the Vault (split) PCT FDA approved test; however, at T-74 hours before our flight Tradewind called and let me know that test was not acceptable for St Barths customs. So, we moved to Plan B, in the Philadelphia / New Jersey area Jefferson hospital has an app (Jeff Direct) and for $49/each we got a doctor to issue an order for a test, quickly scheduled an appointment and within 3 hours (flight time T-71 hours) took our nasal swab test. The negative results came back within 25 hours, so we ended up with a good amount of buffer time. We provided the information to Tradewind to ensure that it was acceptable. We got an upgrade on the AA direct flight from Philadelphia to San Juan (less than half full Business section) and we were the only passengers on the Tradewind flight. We will need to take another test here in St Barths on Friday (7 days after entry).
 
I had previously posted about the Vault (split) PCT FDA approved test; however, at T-74 hours before our flight Tradewind called and let me know that test was not acceptable for St Barths customs. So, we moved to Plan B, in the Philadelphia / New Jersey area Jefferson hospital has an app (Jeff Direct) and for $49/each we got a doctor to issue an order for a test, quickly scheduled an appointment and within 3 hours (flight time T-71 hours) took our nasal swab test. The negative results came back within 25 hours, so we ended up with a good amount of buffer time. We provided the information to Tradewind to ensure that it was acceptable. We got an upgrade on the AA direct flight from Philadelphia to San Juan (less than half full Business section) and we were the only passengers on the Tradewind flight. We will need to take another test here in St Barths on Friday (7 days after entry).

Hooray! Welcome . . . and enjoy!
 
The St Barths 7 days after entry test, is it compulsory for everyone or it's for people from current high risk countries (currently US)? The test on St Barths is spitting or nasal?

How is the spirit on the island now 😊
 
You need the PCR test upon entry and then again if you either plan on staying more than 7 days or will return to the U.S. via SXM. We took the PCR test on Saturday morning in Gustavia and had results back by noon that same day (not inexpensive). It's a nasal exam and was not pleasurable compared to the PCR test a week ago in South Florida.
 
Gables, you needed a test to transit through to leave St. Barths via SXM also??

Great question. I'm not 100% sure but I believe it is indeed technically required. We tried to get clarification from locals on the island because the rapid test in St. Barths is expensive. Unfortunately, nobody could provide a definitive answer. We then checked with the airline and they referred us To the following notice:

Prior DEPARTURE from St Barths to Sint Maarten :
Health Declaration Form https://stmaartenehas.com/application-form must be submitted.
Declaration on the honor of absence of symptoms (travellers to France only).
Negative COVID-19 PCR test carried out within 72 hours before the flight - for all passengers who have stayed less than 14 days in St-Barths.


Based on that notice, we got tested the day prior to departing St. Barths and had our results within a few hours. The night before departing, we completed and submitted the Health Declaration Form just as we did when we departed the U.S. a week earlier. However, this time, we were not asked to upload our COVID results, which we thought was odd. An hour or so after submitting the form, we received the Pre-Approval email granting us permission to fly into SXM.

Upon checking in with St. Barth Commuter, the agent asked if we had our COVID results and insisted that SXM officials would ask for it even if we were simply in transit. However, upon arriving at SXM, the passport control agent said we didn't need it since we were in transit and were coming from SBH. All she wanted to see was the Health Declaration Form, which again did not contain new COVID results.

It's nuts and unclear.
 
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