Saba's Public Health centralized Covid-19 Testing Center will close on July 17th, 2022, after nearly fourteen months of operation.
The Testing Center opened in May 2021 in conjunction with the island's re-opening to tourists and other visitors. Staffed by a team of dedicated Covid-19 support associates, the centralized testing center replaced drive-thru and in-home testing conducted during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The operation's goal was two-fold: to support the Island's Public Health policies, such as the end of quarantine testing and post-arrival testing, and to provide travel testing services for the community and visitors to the island.
"A Centralized Testing Center was a priority for Public Health. It was important from early in the pandemic to streamline an effective multi-faceted approach to Covid that used testing, isolation policies, and contact tracing to keep Saba safe," stated Jane O'Flynn, Director of Public Health.
With the emergence of Omicron on the island in mid-December 2021, the Center quickly turned into a high-volume facility as an outbreak of community spread cases coincided with the busy travel season. Because of this, the Public Health Department had to add staff, adjust processes, and the new normal became 90 -100 tests a day. In addition to testing, the team conducted contact tracing with all positive cases and tested contacts and household members.
Testing in recent months has mainly confirmed positive self-tests and testing of contacts and symptomatic persons. This past May, Saba, like many other regional and world destinations, eased entry requirements and previously required on-island Covid-19 testing measures.
The Public Health Department is confident the timing is right to take this next step and transition the responsibility for testing to the Saba Cares Clinic.
For information on how to get tested through the Saba Cares Lab, please visit the Saba Tourism website: www.sabatourism.com.