COVID test to return to US - Just go to a pharmacy?

We recently returned from our travels to Greece and Sicily, both Rick Steves tours. Our hotel directed us to a pharmacy in Sicily and we easily had our COVID tests completed and had no issues with the documentation for our return trip to the US. Other people on our tour did bring the tests with them and I did not hear of any issues with those either. I believe we paid about $20 euros each for our test at the pharmacy. We had a couple other COVID tests done while traveling and the hotel arraigned for a doctor to come to the hotel to administer our tests and its was $35 euros for a weekend test and $20 euros each for the weekday test. When we flew back to the US the COVID test rules stated the test could be done anytime the day before we flew home, or of course the day of. We had our tests done the morning we left Catania, and used them the next evening when we flew back to the US from Frankfurt. Hope this all makes sense.

Yes, you can take tests with you and do the internet monitoring. Plus, you can do that on your own schedule 10pm at night if you want - Minus, you have to carry those around for your entire trip.

There are many places that you can easily get a test in Italy. Pharmacy's had them and I saw tents on the street in Rome that had tests or you can ask your hotel. However, if you are in a small town, leaving on Monday so your test would need to be on Sunday or if you are traveling on your test day, finding a place would be very inconvenient.

I am not familiar with the FlowFlex tests. I don't think you can simply arrange an online proctor and use a self-test you happen to have with you. I think you must use the test designated by whichever proctoring company you work with.

I trust someone who has kept up to date on this issue will either correct what I've posted or confirm that I'm right.

I wasn't aware either that you could add the proctored portion, but it appears you can for $20 a test.

https://www.azova.com/flowflexvideo/

Right now the 5-pack are on sale at Costco. They are rather compact, much smaller in size than the Abbott (Emed) tests. We had bought them before and used them just for general at home antigen testing. Just to note, the 5-pack is not individually wrapped. If you don't need to purchase the tele-health proctor portion ahead of time, I think it would still be a good idea to bring these tests, potentially as back up. They take up very little space.

Went to a pharmacy two blocks from our hotel in Rome on a Sunday (you got to check because not all are open) and got our tests. 22 euro each and done in 15 minutes. How easy is that. Why mess with all the other stuff. Yes, you can take a bus full of people for the test. They will send the results to your phone or print a copy. We like printed copies then just hand it to the nice lady at the airline desk and off you go. By the way, the testing center was right on the street in a tent. Tested 3 weeks ago.

Travel Lady - That sounds like the way to go! The ease and the cost sound the best.

Anyone flying home from Venice? Any recommendations on where to get tested there on a Monday?

Having proctored self-tests with you is reassuring, as you know you’ve got them for taking, although it does mean toting around enough tests for all of you, plus you need a reliable Internet connection where you’ll be doing them. We carried Abbott Binax tests with us in Italy last fall, over our 5 weeks, and did the test the night before we left Rome the next day for home. There were just 2 of us, and we carried 4 boxes of tests between the 2 of us - one each for doing the test, plus one backup test apiece. They weren’t too much trouble to keep in our carry-on suitcases and haul around Italy. Depending on how many tests you’d be carrying, that might be more cumbersome … or not.

We just used the Abbott EMed self-test this morning. (Negatives, thx goodness.) This is the second trip on which we've used these self-tests. The process is simple and the results are emailed in 5-10 minutes.

We also took one of the free tests we received from the govt ( good for two people .) It reduced our stress to test the night before and receive negative results in advance of the proctored self-test.

Good luck and safe travels!

Pat. Question? We’re the Binax Now proctored tests you did….on a laptop or a tablet? We don’t own a laptop.

Ooops. I see it was Cyn. Sorry Pat.

We used our I-phones, as you need a camera. I don't know if laptops have cameras?

Most laptops have cameras built-in these days.

When you do the proctored test on your phone, have your travel mate HOLD the phone. My phone decided to fall over (despite carefully bracing it) just as I was putting the reagent in the test card. Voided my (only) test in Padua Italy.

Fortunately a pharmacy with a tent outside was 3 minutes away, took the test for 22 Euro and had my results in 10 minutes. In retrospect I would not have bothered to carry the proctored tests around for 2 weeks.

@ all2alb, we each used our own iPhones