WHERE TO GET TESTED FOR COVID-19? | WESTERN CAPE (CAPE TOWN & SURROUNDS)
“We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test,” World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday at a Covid-19 media briefing.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19?
Some people infected with the virus have no symptoms. When the virus does cause symptoms, common ones include:
- low-grade fever,
- body aches,
- coughing,
- nasal congestion,
- sore throat.
COVID-19 can occasionally cause more severe symptoms like:
- high fever,
- severe cough,
- shortness of breath – which often indicates pneumonia.
One of the symptoms of COVID-19 is shortness of breath. What does that mean?
Shortness of breath refers to unexpectedly feeling out of breath, or winded. But when should you worry about shortness of breath?
If you find that you are ever breathing harder or having trouble getting air each time you exert yourself, you always need to call your doctor.
Meanwhile, it’s important to remember that if shortness of breath is your only symptom, without a cough or fever, something other than COVID-19 is the likely problem.
Coronavirus Resource Center: Harvard health Publishing, Harvard Medical School*
WHO SHOULD BE TESTED
Testing for now, even in private labs will be prioritised for individuals that fulfill epidemiological and clinical case definitions and only if referred by a doctor.
Due to critical reagent shortages, COVID19 (SARS-CoV-2) testing will be restricted to patients who have traveled to or from areas where there has been sustained person to person transmission with in the last 14 days and seriously ill or hospitalised with severe pneumonia, or cough, sore throat, shortness of breath or measured fever of 38 °C. Testing will also be reserved for health care workers who attended patients with confirmed COVID19 (SARS-CoV-2) tests.
Corona virus info, Lancet Laboratories*
Good to know
CALL YOUR DOCTOR FIRST!! Don’t just show up and don’t rush to the emergency room!
Questions you should expect to be asked when you call your healthcare provider:
1. Do you have/have you had all of these symptoms?
- Dry cough • Difficulty breathing
- Sore throat • Runny nose
- Tight chest • Fever or chills
2. If you have been around anyone who tested positive for the coronavirus?
3. If you traveled to or from any high risk countries?
If you have not answered yes to the above questions you most likely will be refused a test.
GET TESTED IN WESTERN CAPE
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
If you have symptoms it’s advisable to call your GP first. Your doctor will give you a form to fill from Lancet Laboratories. After go get tested from one of this address below with your form.
For prices, please contact the lab, prices can change between places.
LANCET LABORATORIES
Bellville:
2 Heide Street, Bloemhof
Tel: 021 910 0845
Brackenfell:
Brackenfell Medical Centre, Cnr Brackenfell & Old Paarl Road
Tel: 021 981 4747
Mon-Fri 08:00-17:00 (Sat close at 12pm Sun all day close)
CBD:
Corner Longmarket & Parliament Street
Tel: (021) 424 1390
Century City:
Smartsurv House
Tel: 021 673 1700
Mon-Fri 08:00–17:00
Durbanville:
15 Paul Kruger Street
Tel: 021 975 1837
Claremont:
Kingsbury medical Suites, 1st Floor, Suite 103, Wilderness Rd
Tel: 021 671 3875
Mon-Fri 10:00-15:00
Pinelands:
91 Jan Smuts Dr, Pinelands
Tel: 021 509 5022
Simon’s Town:
1st Floor, Room 4 Harbour Bay Medical Centre
Tel: 021 786 9508
Mon-Fri 08:00-17:00 (close weekend)
Somerset West:
Arun Place Block 6 Unit F, Cherrywood Gardens, Sir Lowry’s Pass
Tel: 021 850 9000
Stellenboschh Oewerpark:
Suite 12A Rokewood Road, Die Boord, Stellenbosch
Tel: 021 673 1506
Mon-Fri 08:00-17:00
Rondebosch:
Rondebosch Medical Center, 95 Klipfontein Rd
Tel: 021 685 2056
32 Ntlazane Rd, Village 1 South, Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: 071 117 8991 / 021 360 8079
*The process typically takes 24 to 48 hours. But the process will probably start taking longer as a backlog builds.
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