Antigen Covid Testing

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

It has not been easy to schedule antigen tests in the Region as, in some cases, there are no vacancies, queues are permanent and pharmacies only accept appointments for the next week and in others there is no delay. And suddenly everything gets complicated for those who have frequent social engagements and a busy life. Having to do tests every 48 hours – because some require it – is work.

The uproar is not greater because several companies bet on the comfort of their employees and customers and many promoters of events guaranteed test at the door.

Those who dictated the rules cannot be surprised by the critical reports and the finding expressed in our survey placed on the digital platform.

Poll by Diario Notícias

Showing results at time of posting.

Has antigen testing been easy since the regional government announced new pandemic control measures?

Yes, everything is well organized 19 %
No, chaos is installed 49 %
No, the lines are huge 28 %
Yes, but the proof takes time 4 %
Survey Results

A large majority detect anomalies in a millionaire system for those who entered the healthcare business and which has only one collective merit: diagnosing more cases each day. So it’s no wonder that more than 100 have appeared yesterday.

Strange is the rate of death by covid, in a double dose, several days in a row, always with associated comorbidities. Is it just a coincidence? Were they vaccinated? Are there common features in the diagnoses performed?

From Diário Notícias

At the moment the tests are not free for tourists and even semi residents.  I have many friends living here, or have properties here and come and go, and if they don’t have a utente number they will not get a free test, so are refusing to have it done, and totally agree with them.

It looks like the pop up tents are letting visitors have a free test, but I think this could also be hit and miss.

Also residents are only entitled to one free test a week, where if they want another one within 7 days they are asked to pág, as one resident has already tried this and was told they can’t get one till after 7 days.

So still many problems with the testing, and many people will refuse.

The next days will be interesting, and we will get an idea of how many places will check for both vaccine and test.

 

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Tobi Hughes

42 Responses

  1. If they would allowed tourists to perform a Antigen test at their hotel,with the tests we get in Mass from the UK for free. Followed by reporting result to the NHS,followed by a text message to confirm negative test .. That will take huge pressure off tourists.. save the government money.. and free up space for residents of Madeira! Has this been suggested to those in charge?

    1. e Using the NHS site to register in hotels will not work as the app only works to register tests in the uk

  2. An own goal requiring visitors to pay for weekly testing. Many will now cancel leading to much more economic impact than would have resulted from giving free tests. Not very thoughtful or clever.

  3. I’m laughing at the mismanagement because otherwise I will be depressed. Sad to see Madeira like this. Yeah, you can’t make a test mandatory for all, require it weekly to do pretty much any activity people normally do when visiting a country, then charge 15-20 euros per test. At times like this, we see the hell of bureaucracy.

    1. As much as this is fuss for tourists (my self included) I really do feel sorry for the residents. I’ve chosen to come here. The residents have no choice to put up with this. The most frustrating thing about it is there is a solution for tourists. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve got 10 boxes, of 7 tests. Instead I need to join a que (of potential symptomatic infected people) to get the same test which I have, if I’m even able to get a test.

      1. Why have you got 10 boxes equating to 70 tests.!! This is hoarding of the absolute worst kind and an abuse of the system.Shameful. No wonder the NHS is haemorrhaging money and operations being delayed.

        1. My work gave me a box a fortnight. You want to sue my half a billion pound company? Send me your details and go ahead. Don’t talk bollox before you know the whole story! Idiot!

  4. The Madeira safe page still says that tourists who arrive in Madeira can get a FREE test at the airport on arrival. we are arriving on 29th & will need one–are you saying that we will not get a test at Funchal airport?

  5. Well, lets see – I received information from our Hotel that we should check with Antigen before we travel to cover some time on Madaia and that they are willing to help to get a new Test… Hopefully it will work 🙁 We thinking about cancel.

  6. As above, I can do a lateral flow test to check I’m negative in on departure, get to hotel, ask hotel for advice on nearest tests, then go and queue. As a visitor, I don’t mind paying but, like everyone else, sick of queuing, potentially with people who are postitive. Is the social distancing goung to be observed un sich a queue? No, no more than it was in July when we needed tests to come home.

  7. What a nightmare – I am so glad I took the very reluctant decision to cancel my planned holiday to Madeira. Madeira has for many years been my favourite holiday destination. I will return when sanity returns.

  8. Not getting much help from our hotel, we walked up to the Lido this morning and the tent was closed ‘operational problems’ took the bus into town but the queue there was so long there was no way I could stand that long! Going back up to the Lido for 2pm to see what’s going on. Not holding my breath though!

  9. We are cancelling our holiday of 8 weeks again We have plenty of NHS tests we could bring with us
    But your country not accepting them
    We also have had booster covid vaccine
    This is going to ruin tourist coming, yes would pay but it seems not available so don’t see how we can come
    Have the authorities thought this through, yes we can show valid covid certificates which renew online every 30 days, but there aren’t enough lateral flow kits available for tourists
    We love Madeira coming for over 20 years 3 times a year
    Take care everyone
    Rosemarie Smith
    Cornwall UK

  10. We have cancelled our Christmas and new year in Madeira. But thanks to tui we have been able to swap to Fuerteventura. Hopefully back next summer.

    1. Yes the upstairs airport test centre is open, had friends going there for a test, I’ve got mine booked for next Tuesday in Arco da Calheta, a problem? Course it isn’t, what a load of crap some people make out, just a small inconvenience, I cannot go to a restaurant after Saturday until I’ve had next weeks test. Boo hoo.
      Flip side, become like Austria????? It’s for safety of all, for heavens sake do your civic duty & get jabbed if you haven’t already, test & find out where this horrible disease is, contain, & monitor, while more get innoculated, then it doesn’t have chance to mutate & get worse. Well done Madeira, sometimes you just have to do unpopular things to keep the uneducated safe, it’s not going away anytime soon.

      1. Thank you! Would this be the place where all arriving passengers who need a test would go?
        I’m still waiting for some information from our hotel if they would have know how to have the test for the next 7 days.

  12. Hi Guys, Just to let you know. the Clinica da Se. Situated behind the cathedral. Says on it’s website. Antigen tests are free to tourists, who have registered with Madeira Safe. The testing hours are 9-12:30 daily except Sundays

      1. Not sure, there was nothing about booking on the website. But there is an email address. Go to the site have a look and perhaps email them.

  13. Our experience this afternoon!! Stood in the queue at the tent at the Lido for 1hour 45 mins only to be told we can’t get it until Saturday! If we have it today it will only last 48 hours and we will have to go back on Saturday and pay 20 euros! I am in so much pain after standing for that length of time, don’t if I will be able to walk anywhere for the rest of the day. It was an absolute shambles! The split the queue in two, one for tourists and one for locals. I felt sorry for the poor girl dealing with everyone, if they had put up a notice to that effect it would help, there was an 80 year old lady standing behind us and she thought she my faint. Can’t understand why, if we took it today, it would only last 48 hours! Can’ imagine what it’s going to be like on Saturday. We got a number and the young girl registered our booking with MadeiraSafe. We will see on Saturday. I am now going to have a VERY large gin and tonic to steady me

    2. Good of you to share. Sounds absolutely terrible. I’m not surprised and this isn’t the first I’ve heard about long waits, requiring payment and unclear processes for tourists/visitors. Perhaps some ignorant commenters who think that because it is easy for them now, it will remain that way, or that others aren’t having problems and therefore complaining, can learn something.

    3. We took a test at the tent in Funchal today (in a queue 1 hour and then waiting 30 min for the result), paid 15 Euro per person, nobody told us it might be only valid 48h. I don’t understand why it should be valid only for 48h… There is no such info on the test results. What a mess!

    4. sounds odd. we did ours at the tent on Wed eve. very helpful staff, the test results are valid for 1 week.

      1. Thats what we thought as well, but everyone who was a tourist and didn’t need to be tested because they thought they had it were turned away. It was an absolute nightmare

  14. I’m landing tomorrow with a test. Does that mean mines not valid after Saturday. This is turning Into to a catastroph! No One knows anything more than when this was announced last week! ?

      1. Are you at a bar drinking the Gin and T? Mabye ask them if they know anything,and if they will comply from Saturday,even though not many people can actually even get tested.

        1. The hotel knows no more than us! I’m in our apartment in the hotel. I’ll update on Saturday as to how it goes

  15. I’m staying in Funchal at the moment on the Lido. I have an appointment for the tent tomorrow but after seeing the queues I might give it a miss. Plus it should be noted that all the restaurants and bars Ive been to so far haven’t even asked for a vaccine certificate, although I carry mine everywhere just incase. If they aren’t following the rules now I don’t think they will follow them next week. Just going to forget about it and enjoy my holiday. My travel agent (Jet2) hasn’t informed us but from reading their terms and conditions they wash their hands of any liability if anything changes when you are on holiday.

    1. It will be interesting to see which places do start checking and whether they enforce the rule that you must have both in places like restaurants or whether they end up just checking one. My prediction: for a week or two, big shopping centres and restaurants where the police could randomly come to inspect the rules are being enforced, will verify that people have either a vaccine certificate or test, but I’d be surprised if the places that are supposed to ask for both in fact do. After a few weeks, many places will stop checking anything at all because they’re not constantly going to harass regulars, who are often acquaintances, neighbours, and even friends. Let’s see if I’m right.

    2. Same experience here. Not 1 single place checking any documentation. Not even enforcing common sense rules like wearing masks properly in some places.

  16. You may be interested in our experience so far of getting antigen tests over the last week or so. Last Friday morning we dutifully queued for a (free) test at the tent on Avendida Arriga, near Marina Shopping. Then of course we learnt that the rules had changed and that our vaccination certificate would be enough for restaurants, bars etc.
    This morning at 08:30 we joined an already long queue at the same place. (Testing there doesn’t start until 09:00 but we obviously expected it to be busy.). Things were a bit chaotic, as you might expect. But we were then charged 20 Euros each for the test, all because we had free test last week. We were old these re the current government rules. We will have to go through the same process again next Friday as we are still here for another 2 weeks.

    Now, we spend 4 to 6 weeks each year as tourists in Madeira. Whilst we are here we put far more money into the local economy than the average Madeirense. Today the government sees fit to effectively tax us for following its rules. Rules which none of the establishments we have visited in Funchal over the last week have themselves followed. To me this seems like a discriminatory tax on tourists.

    Tobi, Should you get another chance to put further questions to the Tourist Minister I would be interested to hear the response.

  17. I agree, we stood for jour and 45 mins yesterday to e told to come back on saturday. I am in my 70’s and slightly disabled, today I am fit for nothing and will have to do it again tomorrow. The only crowded place we’ve been is in the queue for the test!

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