Air arrivals required to prove they are negative to Covid-19, or take blood test upon arrival

[Conchman]

If you dont have a covid negative test with you, the government will test you with a 10 minute test at airport upon arrival.

Yesterday, it was working very well in Santiago airport as they had 12 testing stations and it was quick and organized, according to a DR1 poster in another thread.

I had my assistant call several contacts at POP airport and they are not ready yet. In the meantime they are letting people through or doing random tests. I was told the airport testing policy could change any day but it looks promising from the STI report.

The 5 day requirement for pre arrival test is silly bec its almost impossible to get these results on time, in The Bahamas they had to change their policy from 7 days to 10 days. Remember a 5 day test result is 5 working days!

You can get a 24hr to 48 hr test at the We Care Family Clinic in Ft Lauderdale for $300. We have all gotten the tests back within 24 hrs but we have a company acct there. Only place I know of in N America that can do it but I'm sure there are more.

 

[Meat]

POP was actually testing Friday, when I flew in. 35 travelers total on the plane from Miami and everyone was ushered into a room with guys in full chem suits. Of course no one knew what was happening until the first got called to sit down and get their finger pricked. 2 tests on one strip. Prick then one drop in each (Covid and Antibody) and they plug it into a machine while you stand against the wall wondering if you are going back on the plane, or quarantined somewhere or who knows. It was sketchy since no one even tried to explain it. We were told to wait a few minutes and you either got the nod or you didn't. Choose your own adventure

 

[El Rey de Mangu]

POP was actually testing Friday, when I flew in. 35 travelers total on the plane from Miami and everyone was ushered into a room with guys in full chem suits. Of course no one knew what was happening until the first got called to sit down and get their finger pricked. 2 tests on one strip. Prick then one drop in each (Covid and Antibody) and they plug it into a machine while you stand against the wall wondering if you are going back on the plane, or quarantined somewhere or who knows. It was sketchy since no one even tried to explain it. We were told to wait a few minutes and you either got the nod or you didn't. Choose your own adventure

Welcome to DR1, Meat!

 

[Big]

POP was actually testing Friday, when I flew in. 35 travelers total on the plane from Miami and everyone was ushered into a room with guys in full chem suits. Of course no one knew what was happening until the first got called to sit down and get their finger pricked. 2 tests on one strip. Prick then one drop in each (Covid and Antibody) and they plug it into a machine while you stand against the wall wondering if you are going back on the plane, or quarantined somewhere or who knows. It was sketchy since no one even tried to explain it. We were told to wait a few minutes and you either got the nod or you didn't. Choose your own adventure

Good post! like the screen name as well, "meat" and not meet

 

[cavok]

POP was actually testing Friday, when I flew in. 35 travelers total on the plane from Miami and everyone was ushered into a room with guys in full chem suits. Of course no one knew what was happening until the first got called to sit down and get their finger pricked. 2 tests on one strip. Prick then one drop in each (Covid and Antibody) and they plug it into a machine while you stand against the wall wondering if you are going back on the plane, or quarantined somewhere or who knows. It was sketchy since no one even tried to explain it. We were told to wait a few minutes and you either got the nod or you didn't. Choose your own adventure

Only 35 passengers on the plane? No wonder that the testing is going smoothly.

 

[Meat]

Thank you all! I just never liked handing out my DNA...call me crazy. Yes the plane wasn't even close to full obviously. Good mix of different people since the flights are so limited anywhere right now that most customers were from all over the map.
Literally, it was a bee-line off out of the gate to a room immediately on the left before you even got to customs where they ushered us in.
Of course if you had a recent Covid test, you would want to speak up then.
Thailand is my usual spot and I'm currently paying for a condo there I can't use... boohoo.
But there are Worst places to hang out in a Pandemic hehe.
Buen Provecho!

 

[CristoRey]

True story. Friend told me just yesterday that
a mutual friend of ours didn't find out about the
testing requirement to enter the DR
prior to boarding his flight out of Miami to STI
last weekend so he had a buddy create a
fake test and email it to him (while in transit)
so he could present it at arrivals if asked. He
walked straight thru customs, flashed his phone
and no questions asked. There is nothing
these people can do about any of this no matter
how hard they try or what their intentions are.
Its time to flatten the fear people and get on
with your lives.

 

[windeguy]

True story. Friend told me just yesterday that
a mutual friend of ours didn't find out about the
testing requirement to enter the DR
prior to boarding his flight out of Miami to STI
last weekend so he had a buddy create a
fake test and email it to him (while in transit)
so he could present it at arrivals if asked. He
walked straight thru customs, flashed his phone
and no questions asked. There is nothing
these people can do about any of this no matter
how hard they try or what their intentions are.
Its time to flatten the fear people and get on
with your lives.

People are going to read this and do the same....

 

[CristoRey]

People are going to read this and do the same....

People who are good at solving problems will always
find a way to get things done. The DR is full of them.

 

[aarhus]

True story. Friend told me just yesterday that
a mutual friend of ours didn't find out about the
testing requirement to enter the DR
prior to boarding his flight out of Miami to STI
last weekend so he had a buddy create a
fake test and email it to him (while in transit)
so he could present it at arrivals if asked. He
walked straight thru customs, flashed his phone
and no questions asked. There is nothing
these people can do about any of this no matter
how hard they try or what their intentions are.
Its time to flatten the fear people and get on
with your lives.

It would cost the DR a lot of resources if they had to validate the authenticity of each test. There will be a some cheaters who fall through the cracks.

 

[windeguy]

I am told by a friend that many flights to the DR for the next couple of days have been cancelled, trying to confirm.

 

[cavok]

I just checked American from MIA to POP, STI, and SDQ for tomorrow through Saturday. They're still showing as scheduled.

 

[Gadfly]

I just called JetBlue they said no cancellations. I’m crossing my fingers

 

[CristoRey]

It would cost the DR a lot of resources if they had to validate the authenticity of each test. There will be a some cheaters who fall through the cracks.

I plan on flying back down in October.
Its nice to have options.

 

[zoomzx11]

Continue reading...

Negative within the previous 5 days is hard to do in the US. Our testing is taking 5 to 10 days for results.
Means you have to book the flight then juggle the test to get your results in the 5 day time frame.
Makes it almost impossible to get there with your own test results.
You are then gambling on testing negative so as to not end up in a Covid hotel for two weeks.
Add in the percent of false test results and its gambling in the extreme.
How to further kill tourism in one easy step. That is if there even are any tourists to discourage.

 

[zoomzx11]

I personally wish they would have implemented this procedure July One when they opened the damn airports back up after 4 months of closure but that's a mute the point because they didn't. Moving forward, I believe the SPIKE in positive cases we find ourselves with today is mostly due to the recent elections, and primarily the campaigning that went on two weeks prior but cannot help but think of how many cases came in with the masses flooding home after being locked out.

I would love to see the number of positive cases trapped by the new measure of testing on arrival but not sure those numbers will ever be made public.

Stay safe all and wear a damn mask!

Science from the US says that community spread is largely from indoor gatherings.
I expected the mass protests in the US to spike the numbers but they did not. Science put down the result to protesters being outdoors and wearing masks. Lots of the protesters had masks on and maybe for more than health reasons.

 

[zoomzx11]

It's gonna take almost forever to get out of the airport now. how many minutes per test times the number of passengers

I would be much more worried about failing the test and ending up in the Covid hotel with all the other sick people.

 

[aarhus]

I would be much more worried about failing the test and ending up in the Covid hotel with all the other sick people.

I agree. I am in DR and eventually will fly back to Europe but not coming back here under these circumstances. What about Dominican citizens, legal residents and home owners by the way. Can they quarantine at home instead of the Covid hotel ?

 

[zoomzx11]

Just when you thought the Dominican Republic could not possibly demonstrate a higher level of ineptitude in the embarrassing incompetence they demonstrate on a daily basis in the manner in which they stumble through "managing" this pandemic, they come up with this nonsense.

Let's see how this latest chapter in their never ending foolishness plays out.

This is what tourists can now expect when arriving to the DR.

A medical test, whether a finger stick, blood draw or nasal swab, administered by whom? A certified, qualified and properly trained medical technician following standardized sanitary and sterility protocols for handling passengers' bodily fluids, some of which will qualify as biohazards, in a country that can't even provide potable water for it's populace ? ? ?

And this foolish requirement to have a certificate proving a negative "Covid-19" result within the last five days for those wishing to avoid the above mentioned folly.

PLEASE . . .

What will be the qualifications of the persons reading and authenticating these Covid-19 "certifications" which, with overwhelming probability, will not be in their native language? The same "authorities" currently accepting this latest, laughable incarnation of a Covid-19 "health form"?

And if by some more ridiculousness exhibited by the Dominican Republic these certificates do actually begin to become the norm, the easily falsified (knowing who will be "authenticating" them at the DR airports) Covid-19 negative certificates will immediately start to appear. Certificates which will be offered for sale the moment the online "tigueres" get wind of the DR's latest epiphany in addressing the pandemic.

All this now about to be played out at the airport of your choice here in Shangri-La.

This is funny . . .

Actually, no.

It's tragic.

If you want to mess with the testers demand they use a new pair of gloves on each person.
They will only have a pair or two.
I bring my own gloves in a package anytime I get an injection or blood test here.
They are well known to use the same pair until they tear and even wash them out at night for the next days work.

 

[zoomzx11]

Covid has really exposed the idiocy of these elected officials. Its laughable as a foreigner but you have to feel for the people who rely on these fools for safety.

Long term planning is not a dom thing.
People writing the rules did not ask the medical people who were doing the testing if it would work.
In the DR the bosses never ask the bossed anything.
I do not think many Dominicans or savvy expats rely on politicos for anything, especially safety.
In the DR you place your reliance on your family. One of the really nice things about the culture.