WITH the country in the grip of a third wave of Covid-19, a local lab has slashed the cost of the vital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test required to detect genetic material from a specific organism, such as a virus.
Dr Kams Govender, a Hillcrest doctor who works closely with Universal Pathology Laboratory SA (UPL), said, “This low cost is going to benefit patients in a huge way. This is the lowest rate in the Upper Highway area. With the third wave, price is very important now with the way the economy is at the moment. The more people you test and isolate as soon as possible reduces transmissions in the community and helps us manage Covid-19 at the community level.”
The drive-through lab service, based at 5 Delamore Road in Hillcrest, is another plus to help manage Covid-19 patients as well as assist post-Covid-19 patients with blood tests and more.
“It makes managing post-Covid complications efficient as they will not need to get out of their car, with no chance of compromising staff or other community members and and minimises cross infection,” he said.
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Govender noted there was a period of six to eight weeks where there were no positive cases reported to his office, but, in the last 10 days, has seen a large increase in positive cases.
“We found a lot of kids in schools with positive cases and now we have seen it move into the community. We are dealing with a virus that is transmitted by human contact, so when you are meeting with your loved ones, you feel you are in a safe zone. We need to minimise our movement at this time, wear a mask, social distance and sanitise,” he said.
Jerome Chetty, the COO of UPL, said, “We have been involved in diagnostic testing for a long time and, what we found with Covid-19, is that people who needed their blood tests done, were not getting them done and therefore not getting their chronic medication. We wanted to create a safe zone where people could have this service done from the safety and comfort of their cars,” he said.
The PCR test as well as the Covid-19 Rapid Antigen (Infection) Test are offered at the testing site. The Hillcrest site opens its doors at 8:00 and closes at 17:00.
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