GGD temporarily halts Covid testing for travel in six regions due to lab malfunction

Six regional GGDs will no longer carry perform coronavirus tests for travel until at least Monday. The Eurofins lab that analyzed the tests was unable to provide travelers with their results within 30 hours due to a malfunction, the ANP stated.

The regions of the Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Haaglanden, Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe and IJsselland were impacted by the temporary halt in testing for travel. People who live in these areas and made an appointment for a coronavirus test to travel must cancel their appointment via 0800-5005 and make a new appointment online.

People who have already been tested and are waiting for the results must make a new appointment online. They may have to go another region to for a test or seek a commercial provider.

The GGD described the situation as “very annoying”. The roughly seven thousand people who had an appointment or were waiting for the results were informed via text. “We have sent seven thousand messages, but we do not know if we reached everyone. Not everyone provided a mobile number”, a GGD spokesperson told NOS.