Traveling to Barbados from North America just became a whole lot easier. This is thanks to an agreement between the Government of Barbados and the American-based reference laboratory StageZero Life Sciences, which will allow travelers coming from the U.S. and Canada to have their COVID-19 PCR tests expedited via a mobile healthcare professional.
The lab is guaranteeing prospective test results back in 48 hours or fewer, assisting prospective travelers in meeting the Barbados entry requirement of having a COVID-19 PCR test done three days prior to their arrival.
Minister of tourism and international transport, Senator the Hon. Lisa Cummins, said that travelers had found difficulty finding a location to get a test for travel and getting those test result back in three days.
She added: “This partnership with StageZero Life Sciences is going to be able to give us coverage across the entire United States and Canadian markets, to ensure we are able to get persons to travel to Barbados. Our diaspora, our guests—people who want to be able to come to Barbados for the winter season—will be able to come and get their test prior to embarkation at their gateway, and then arrive in Barbados safely before having their second test here on island,” she added.
StageZero Life Sciences’ concierge testing service includes national networks of mobile healthcare professionals in the United States and Canada, who can visit travelers’ homes to draw nasopharyngeal swabs, ship samples to the lab and then have results sent to the traveler by encrypted email.
Travelers will have to visit StageZero’s website to order as many tests are needed (at least seven days in advance). They can follow all the directions on the site and book a test no more than three days in advance of their travel date. Travelers will have to fill out a patient intake form, pay online and can have the tests shipped with FedEx, UPS or another carrier. Test kits are pre-labeled and pre-paid for priority overnight shipping. Travelers will then receive an encrypted PDF with the results, which they can upload to the government website (https://travelform.gov.bb/home). Also be sure to bring a hardcopy of the results on the trip.
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