Problem For Travellers. Labs can’t Keep Up With The Amount Of Tests

The guarantee of two days to evaluate a PCR test is no longer valid. Express testing costs up to six thousand crowns.


Testing sites report an influx of people interested in testing. Especially for the more accurate PCR tests, which are also valid for a longer period of time without infection. In addition, they are often the only pass for holiday travel. Therefore, laboratories cannot guarantee that the result will be ready within 48 hours, Lidovky.cz pointed out. According to him, however, it is possible to pay extra for express testing.

“The increase is noticeable, last week it was up to 30 percent in Prague,” Simona Součková, spokesperson for Spadia laboratories, told the server. The greatest interest in the test is on Mondays and Fridays, the representatives of the laboratories say, adding that they do not promise a result before 48 hours. At most sampling points, the results can be obtained within 24 hours for a fee, the server adds. However, you can have the result in your hand in just four hours for an express test, which can cost up to CZK 6,000. However, only laboratories in Prague primarily offer rapid testing.

You need to have an appointment for tests. In Prague or Ostrava, you can get free appointments the very next day. In Frýdek-Místek or Brno, for example, people can make an appointment for a PCR test in seven days at the earliest.

Laboratories are trying to accommodate people and are extending their opening hours and the possibility of making an appointment. “Clients can now schedule a test as early as 14 days in advance and in some places we are even extending the opening hours,” said Kamil Doležel, CEO of AeskuLab, which operates thirteen testing sites in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, but also in Teplice, Olomouc and Zlín.