Skip to content

Floods pause Life Labs’ COVID travel testing in Kelowna

Due to highway closures and floods Life Labs is unable to conduct testing at the moment
27429309_web1_211020-RDA-nurses-helping-out-in-red-deer-covid_1
George Rudanycz, of Sarnia, Ont., is a registered nurse with the Red Cross, who has been working at the COVID-19 testing centre in Red Deer. (Contributed by Canadian Red Cross)

One of the labs that conduct COVID-19 PCR or antigen tests needed for out-of-country travel is no longer operational in Kelowna.

June MacGregor tried to go to Shoppers Drug Mart on Kane Road last week for a COVID-19 test needed for travel. She had prepaid for the test, however, when she arrived at the pharmacy she was told Life Labs was no longer conducting testing.

“I did not receive notification and was on hold with Life Labs for an hour to ask for my refund,” she said.

Life Labs responded to Kelowna Capital News by saying they had paused COVID-19 travel testing in Kelowna due to difficulty establishing a reliable route to transport specimens to the Lower Mainland for testing following the recent flooding, mudslides, and highways closures in Southern B.C.

The lab hopes to resume testing soon, but for now, all tests prepaid or otherwise have been cancelled in Kelowna as well as Kamloops.

There are other labs available within the city for a COVID-19 travel test, including at Kelowna International Airport.

With the detection of the new variant Omicron, new travel restrictions are also in place for Canada.

The federal government announced on Nov. 30, that all air travellers entering Canada, except for those coming from the United States, will need to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival and isolate until they get their results, even if fully vaccinated. While on Dec. 2, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a requirement for all air travellers entering the U.S., including from Canada, to be tested for COVID-19, 24 hours before boarding their flight, regardless of their vaccination status.

Previously, people who were fully vaccinated would have been able to present a negative test taken within 72 hours of flying to the U.S.

READ MORE: U.S. to require all inbound foreign air passengers to get COVID test

READ MORE: B.C.’s daily COVID-19 cases dip below 300, fewer in hospital


@Jen_zee
jen.zielinski@bpdigital.ca

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our daily and subscribe to our daily newsletter.



Jen Zielinski

About the Author: Jen Zielinski

Graduated from the broadcast journalism program at BCIT. Also holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science and sociology from Thompson Rivers University.
Read more