Any Aulani Canadians? PCR tests?

[lorenni]

I did a search but if this has been discussed, it’s buried in 20+ page threads.

We will be at Aulani soon and need PCR tests to return home to Canada. Where have fellow Canadian residents gone for their PCR tests to get home?

 

[JC1984]

Not a Canadian so it doesn’t apply to me but there are CVS’ located on Oahu and I believe they do PCR tests so you might check into that

 

[Tmarmac]

You can also get a NAAT test (like Walgreens ID NOW) to return to Canada - these test results usually come much quicker than a PCR test.

 

[Tmarmac]

Or you can buy a RT-LAMP test from Switch Health while in Canada (info on Switch Health website and Air Canada website), bring it in your suitcase, and take it when you are in Hawaii. It is approved by Health Canada and Switch Health personnel watch you take the test via internet so the results are verified. It takes about 45 min for results. You may need an Aeroplan number to purchase the Switch Health tests.

 

[shaunacb]

I posted this on the Canadian forum not long ago: https://www.disboards.com/threads/aulani-covid19-testing-for-return-to-canada.3861622/
Apparently you can also pay to get a test for travel at Clinical Labs of Hawaii (clinicallabs.com), which might be more guaranteed than CVS or Walgreens.

 

[lorenni]

Or you can buy a RT-LAMP test from Switch Health while in Canada (info on Switch Health website and Air Canada website), bring it in your suitcase, and take it when you are in Hawaii. It is approved by Health Canada and Switch Health personnel watch you take the test via internet so the results are verified. It takes about 45 min for results. You may need an Aeroplan number to purchase the Switch Health tests.

Thought about this, but there is a waitlist.

 

[lorenni]

You can also get a NAAT test (like Walgreens ID NOW) to return to Canada - these test results usually come much quicker than a PCR test.

Thanks for this! I see that’s an option but didn’t know what that test was. Excellent!

 

[StarSeven7]

Or you can buy a RT-LAMP test from Switch Health while in Canada (info on Switch Health website and Air Canada website), bring it in your suitcase, and take it when you are in Hawaii. It is approved by Health Canada and Switch Health personnel watch you take the test via internet so the results are verified. It takes about 45 min for results. You may need an Aeroplan number to purchase the Switch Health tests.

We just did this and used these last Friday to return back to Canada from Hawaii on Saturday. Worked great and was pretty simple! I would definitely do this again as we didn’t need to plan our vacation around when we could get appointments and just call in when it was convenient for us!

 

[Canadian Harmony]

I was looking at both the take along tests and the facilities on the island. I had a poor experience with the "do it yourself in the car" I did at DLR this past October so I think we will go to CVS and have them do it to us. if possible.

 

[StarSeven7]

I was looking at both the take along tests and the facilities on the island. I had a poor experience with the "do it yourself in the car" I did at DLR this past October so I think we will go to CVS and have them do it to us. if possible.

Does CVS actually do the swab for you? We have done it at Walgreens and we had to do it ourselves in the car there. I don’t know about CVS but you might want to check into it further just to make sure! I prefer when they swab us or at least my son because he has a complete meltdown every time we have to swab him and it’s pretty stressful!!

 

[Canadian Harmony]

Does CVS actually do the swab for you? We have done it at Walgreens and we had to do it ourselves in the car there. I don’t know about CVS but you might want to check into it further just to make sure! I prefer when they swab us or at least my son because he has a complete meltdown every time we have to swab him and it’s pretty stressful!!

I absolutely will see if they'll do it for us. I know there are a couple of labs on the Island which will, but if I don't have to pay... I have two kids with high anxiety so I can relate to the stressful meltdowns.

 

[AlannaN]

I did a search but if this has been discussed, it’s buried in 20+ page threads.

We will be at Aulani soon and need PCR tests to return home to Canada. Where have fellow Canadian residents gone for their PCR tests to get home?

Hi! Where did you end up going?

 

[Canadian Harmony]

Or you can buy a RT-LAMP test from Switch Health while in Canada (info on Switch Health website and Air Canada website), bring it in your suitcase, and take it when you are in Hawaii. It is approved by Health Canada and Switch Health personnel watch you take the test via internet so the results are verified. It takes about 45 min for results. You may need an Aeroplan number to purchase the Switch Health tests.

I received the notification they were in stock so bought 4 LAMP tests to bring with us for return testing. We'll do them right at the 72 hour mark just in case we screw things up and need another test.

 

[StarSeven7]

I received the notification they were in stock so bought 4 LAMP tests to bring with us for return testing. We'll do them right at the 72 hour mark just in case we screw things up and need another test.

We used these a week and a half ago to return home from hawaii. I was worried about messing something up but they were simple to use, switch heath walks you through everything! It was really nice to have our results back in 30 minutes!

 

[Canadian Harmony]

My sister said the same thing. I’m really happy there is this option.

 

[Inga]

And here we are with Canada discouraging any international travel. Crap.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

Hubby and I talked about it. We’re still going to go.

 

[lorenni]

Hi! Where did you end up going?

Update: we went to Longs (owned by CVS so booked through their website) just west on Farrington Highway. Drive thru testing so we did the tests ourselves while the pharmacist watched. Very simple and free. (We’ve been through self-testing before with the kits they send home from school.)

We did the tests this morning, and I will post back with the turnaround time for results. Our flight home is Saturday afternoon.

 

[shaunacb]

Update: we went to Longs (owned by CVS so booked through their website) just west on Farrington Highway. Drive thru testing so we did the tests ourselves while the pharmacist watched. Very simple and free. (We’ve been through self-testing before with the kits they send home from school.)

We did the tests this morning, and I will post back with the turnaround time for results. Our flight home is Saturday afternoon.

Is this is regular PCR or the rapid PCR? It looks like you can only get a rapid PCR further away on Ward Avenue, so must be the regular one. Will be interested to know how long the non-rapid PCR takes for results. Thanks for posting.

 

[Noah_t]

Me and my partner went to Walgreens in Ewa Beach for PCR tests for our return to Canada last this November. We booked the appointments about 5 days before for almost exactly 72 hours before the flight and received our results 2 days later. They said it takes 72 hours but consensus at the time was it was 2 days. Nowadays with the spike in cases though I might be inclined to just pay for a test.