“The Government of the Azores will extend the network of covid-19 screening laboratories to the continent, starting on July 1, through agreements with private and social sector laboratories, also streamlining procedures for those who intend to travel to the region “, says a note from the executive.
In practice, according to the Regional Health Secretariat, “citizens will be able to choose the laboratory in which they intend to carry out their new coronavirus screening test from the list of contracted entities, which will be published on the Azores Government Portal, and must present proof of booking and payment for travel between the mainland and the Autonomous Region of the Azores “.
Cited in the note, the regional secretary of Health explains that these laboratories are required to carry out the test within 72 hours before the trip and that the result is sent to the passenger and to the Regional Directorate of Health before the flight.
According to Teresa Machado Luciano, “the convention with these laboratories on the continent will allow the testing of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to be carried out using the RT-PCR methodology, considered the most reliable by reference entities of national and international scope”.
The conventions, he stresses, are the result of “a close work” developed in recent weeks by the Government of the Azores and the National Association of Clinical Analysis Laboratories, “with the objective of reinforcing the safety conditions of those who travel to the region and of the Azoreans” .
The rules for the establishment of the conventions are contained in an ordinance published today in the Official Journal.
So far, 151 cases of infection with the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the covid-19 disease, have been detected in the region, with three currently active positive cases, two in São Miguel and one in Terceira.
In the archipelago, 130 people recovered, 16 died and two returned to mainland Portugal.
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