Prices for COVID-19 tests see major reduction – Reader

Head of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Clifton Reader, is reporting that there have been major reductions in the prices being charged for COVID-19 tests.

Speaking at a Jamaica Tourist Board press briefing this morning, Reader told reporters that the antigen test is now down to US$17.50 in some hotels, a whopping 65 per cent reduction from the original price of US$50 which was being charged by laboratories in Jamaica.

He further indicated that the majority of the laboratories have reduced polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing rates by 50 per cent.

Visitors and locals can now access PCR tests at US$75, down from US$150.

Reader credited the lowered rates to competition.

The news comes as Jamaica reports a COVID-19 positivity rate of less than 0.5 per cent in the tourism resilient corridor and a 65 per cent vaccination rate of hotel workers, followed by the attraction sector at 59 per cent and transportation at 40 per cent.

- Janet Silvera

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