Walgreens falling behind on testing

[NM_Trout]

Don't count on Walgreens being able to provide PCR test results in a 3 day fashion. They are running well over the 72 hour turn around time this week.

[pjshorthorn]

My wife, myself and my son have all been tested twice within the last week as a precautionary measure since we are going to see my 81 year old parents for Thanksgiving. We all were tested as recently as yesterday and had our results from Walgreens in less than two hours. Same turnaround time last week.

We used the Real ID test on both occasions.

I think that there can be a bit of delay due to higher volume of travelers during the holiday season, but I personally didn’t experience that in our case. Maybe we all just got lucky.

PjShorthorn

[Mojo-NC]

There are generally 3 common types of tests available for COVID-19 testing, PCR, ID NOW, and antigen tests. The PCR test is the most accurate, but takes longer because it has to be sent away to a lab for testing. The PCR test is the gold standard and detects RNA specific to the coronavirus. ID NOW is a rapid test and the results are available within 2 hours, and usually sooner than that. The ID NOW rapid test is on the lower end of the spectrum for sensitivity as compared with PCR, but is still acceptable for travel. PCR and ID-Now are both better than the antigen test, which only detects protein fragments. Both the PCR and ID NOW test results are acceptable for travel purposes, including airlines, cruises, and something near and dear to all of us, Canada border crossing. However, the antigen test is not acceptable for most travel purposes.

I've been tested 3 times for travel and for precautionary reasons. I used the ID NOW and the results were always received via text containing a link to "official results" within 90 minutes, and did the testing using the Walgreens drive-through.

[NM_Trout]

My PCR test finally hit my phone at the 82 hour mark. Just in time :-)