Travellers urged to get correct COVID-19 test

-Guyana requires RT-PCR test says Min. Anthony

The Ministry of Health is advising travellers to ensure they take the correct COVID-19 test to be allowed entry into Guyana.  

Minister Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony said only travellers who have taken the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), along with the other requisite stipulations, would be considered for entry into Guyana.

“For international travel we have a requirement and that is persons coming to Guyana must have a PCR test. The scientific name for this test is reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction so it’s called RT-PCR, and that can take several hours depending on the lab you’re doing it. In some cases, it takes a few days. So, we have that requirement for persons to travel to Guyana.”

Minister Anthony made these statements during Thursday’s COVID-19 update.

The PCR test must be done within a 72-hour timeframe upon the passenger’s arrival at any of Guyana’s ports of entry.    

“That 72 hours starts counting from the time you get your swab taken at the lab, so that’s the time that we start counting from. So, if you are within 72 hours then when you arrive in Guyana, you are not required to do a second test. If, however, your test is beyond 72 hours, but within seven days then you are allowed to travel on the plane, but when you get to Guyana, you’ll be required to do another PCR test at the airport here.”

Dr. Anthony emphasised that travellers must be certain of the test that they are taking.

He explained that, “some travellers who would go to their labs to get this test done and sometimes the labs tell them that they’re doing RT-PCR, but when they use the term RT PCR, in a lot of cases it refers to the rapid test PCR. That is an antigen test and that’s not the one that you require.”

The PCR test is considered the ‘gold standard’ for COVID-19 because it detects genetic material that is specific to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 within days of infection, even in asymptomatic persons.

The antigen test is much quicker with a 15-20 minute timeframe for results.

However, Harvard Health Publishing has said the test has a frequent false negative ratio. A false negative test can result in a person unknowingly spreading the disease.

The antigen test is used in areas where there is a high viral load (several reported cases) in pre-symptomatic and early symptomatic cases.