When covid-19 tests could costs as much as US$6 000

In the Maldives, the Soneva Jani and Velaa Private Island resorts joined forces last year to open a Covid-19 testing center at the airport in Maafaru in Noonu Atoll; open to both guests and locals, it was built in 30 days.

The investment included a Roche Lifecycle 96 machine, which sells for about US$41 000 and can process up to 700 tests per day, as well as salaries for staff from the nearby ADK Hospital to operate the lab.

At the Soneva property—where overwater bungalows with their own waterslides and retractable roofs can cost upward of US$4 000 per night—a member of the resort’s medical team visits guests’ villas to conduct nasal swabs and throat tests. Those are sent by speedboat to the nearby lab for analysis.

“At Soneva we offer complimentary testing as part of our commitment to providing a safe environment for all our guests and staff,” says Sonu Shivdasani, founder and chief executive officer of the resort company.

Cruise companies have considered a similar approach, given their propensity for being far away from labs. The only one to commit thus far is Viking Ocean Cruises, which invested in building full-scale labs staffed by three technicians on each of its six seagoing ships, currently sailing in such places as Iceland and Croatia.

“We spend as much on PCR testing as we do on fuel—US$15 to US$20 per person per day,” says Torstein Hagen, the company’s chairman. “It’s serious money. In the many millions. On the plus side, he says the investment allowed him to get back in business faster and in a bigger way than all his competitors, some of whom are just restarting business, several months after Viking’s first pandemic-era departures.

Not all remote testing costs are out of hand. In the Peruvian Amazon, guests on the recently launched, all-suite, 20-passenger Aqua Expeditions ship Aqua Nera pay only US$30 to US$40 for rapid antigen tests conducted by medical staff who come onboard on departure day in Iquitos and deliver results in minutes. (The same tests can be administered at the end of trips, too, for return to the US or other countries.) And for its guests in Machu Picchu, tour company Intrepid Travel works with labs in the large cities of Lima and Cusco, capping rates at US$100 per test.

The variability of pricing is wide enough that the International Air Transport Association in July asked governments to act on price-gouging for Covid tests, citing a proprietary survey in which 70% of respondents called the cost of testing “a significant barrier to travel”.

According to the US Department of State, antigen and PCR testing in Finland costs from US$234 to US$352. In Sweden, a test can cost you anywhere from US$60 to US$360. And in the UK, tests average around US$100 but can run up to US$575; this adds up when locals need to take three tests per round trip abroad—especially if they are traveling with family.

The irony is clear. Until testing costs and availability are brought in line, the very thing helping to ensure pandemic-era safety will also prove a significant impediment for the US$9 trillion travel economy. –Bloomberg

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