State of Utah to stop providing free COVID-19 travel-related testing

An Illinois National Guard member inspects a test swab at a COVID-19 testing site in East St. Louis. File photo: Bill Greenblatt/UPI

UTAH, March 29, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Department of Health announced Tuesday it will stop providing free pre-travel COVID-19 testing at state-sponsored sites after March 31, which is Thursday.

Negative COVID-19 tests are required by some destinations for entry. Starting Friday, April 1, Utah travelers will have to get tested at private sites, and at their own expense.

Those sites to cease the free, pre-travel tests include Nomi Health (TestUtah), Mako Medical, TourHealth, and Utah Department of Health (UDOH) testing locations.

“Travelers who pre-registered at any state-sponsored testing site to be tested after March 31 will need to make other arrangements for travel testing,” the UDoH statement says. “Travelers should plan to access travel testing from private companies.”

Travelers are responsible for making sure their test will be accepted by destination officials, UDoH says. The CDC provides travel requirements by destination at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html.

People seeking COVID-19 travel testing will need to find a testing provider which offers the type of test required by their travel destination. You can find testing providers by searching under “test type” at https://coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-covid-19-testing-locations; going to https://coronavirus.utah.gov/travel/, contacting your travel agent, airline, or travel destination; or doing an online search.

“Cost for travel testing is estimated between $50-$250 depending on the type of test needed and the company,” the UDoH statement says. “It is possible your insurance may not pay for travel testing. Some private travel testing options may include: Xpress Check ($75-$250), WalgreensCVS ($139), and Nomi Health ($59-$179), iHealth ($43), Premier Diagnostics ($50-$125), Quest Diagnostics ($70), COVID Clinic ($75-$320), Gunnison Valley Hospital ($164), and more.

Additional travel guidance can be found at https://coronavirus.utah.gov/travel/.

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