Covid-19 tests

It is the patient’s responsibility to ensure they respect the specific requirements for the country they are travelling to as well as checking the time frames.

Yes, you can come to the clinic, for instance if you are doing your 10 day quarantine and need to do your Day 2 or Day 8 test in-clinic. Please always make sure to wear a face mask.

Double vaccinated travellers no longer need any tests for their arrival in England as of 11/02/2022. Please click here to find out more.

Day 2 and Day 8 tests are not supposed to be used for Fit to Fly. Some companies accept your Microbiology report to travel but we cannot guarantee this. It is the patient’s responsibility to respect the time frames and the regulations in place in the country they are travelling to or from.

That is completely fine – as long as you have bought your test online and have your QR code you don’t need to have a booking. You can come to the centre on or after your 8th day and get tested for Day 8. Your arrival date is Day 0.

Your Day 5 test will not include a Fit to Fly, only a Microbiology report. You will need to check with your airline to see if you can use it to travel.

Unfortunately no, it is not.

You can Take Day 2 test and still take your flight, if you will still be in the UK until the 5th Day, we recommend doing the Day 5 test as it gives you permission to Fly / to be released.

You can keep you Day 8 test and use it later on for another reason, or you can ask for a refund.

If this happens, just remove the -1 and it should work.

Your reference number will be located in your confirmation email. It starts with BIOGP.

You are permitted to leave your house and pick up a test kit at the nearest clinic to you, but please provide a proof that you have not received your kit from us. If this is impossible for you to go to a clinic please contact us and we will send you a new kit as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Since it is mandatory to provide a date, please put the date you departed on, we know that this is incorrect since you informed us, however it will allow you to continue filling the form.

If you are required to take both the Day 2 and the Day 8 tests but are only staying in the UK for less than 8 days, you can purchase the Day 2 test by itself, and do it in-clinic or receive it at home.

We provide a Fit to Fly certificate with your test if it is a Fit to Fly test. Otherwise, you will get a Microbiology report with your results.

Each of our results is accompanied by a detailed report allowing their interpretation. We will also send you the official recommendations and actions to take depending on whether you are positive or negative. If in doubt, you can benefit from the advice of our medical biologists.

Medical biologists, nurses and laboratory technicians are authorized to perform the sample. The quality of the sample directly affects the quality of the results: there cannot be accurate results without a good sample. This is why our medical staff are trained to perform the test.

Sampling involves taking a sample from the throat and nose. A swab is introduced first into the throat and then through the nostrils.

This invasive act is not painful but unpleasant.

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No, you don’t have to be fasting. Our covid-19 centers welcome you all day and every day.

Test performance varies widely, which is why it is important to rely on the expertise of medical biologists. CE marking of a reagent is not sufficient proof of good analytical performance. Indeed, it only corresponds to the supplier’s commitment to comply with specifications. It is up to the end user (medical biologists) to verify the reliability of the tests. Medical biologists thus ensure that the performance of the tests used are those announced by the supplier and comply with the quality standards established by learned societies, in particular the NHS.

The tests are evaluated on several criteria, in particular their sensitivity and their specificity:

• Sensitivity: it corresponds to the percentage of positive results of the serological test in patients who are diagnosed with Covid-19. It exceeds 95% for RT-PCR tests : it is the most reliable test to detect the presence of the virus.
• Specificity: it corresponds to the percentage of negative results of the serological test in patients who do not have Covid-19.

The tests selected by Biogroup have proven excellent performance, double checked by internal studies and have been validated by international scientific bodies. Some suppliers who showed non-compliant performance were not selected. The COFRAC 15189 standard requires accredited laboratories, like all Biogroup sites, to requalify all machines and reagents used within our structure. So that no results from our laboratories are returned without a reliability check.

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Despite certainly millions of infected people, a majority of English people have not encountered the virus or have asymptomatic forms of the disease (between 20 and 40% depending on the studies). It therefore seems important to know whether one is or has been in contact with the virus before resuming life and more normal activities.

The virological test (RT-PCR) will allow the diagnosis of the Covid-19 disease to identify patients with Covid-19 and therefore contagious. This will allow your care in order to isolate you to avoid contamination of other people. This test is the reference test because it is very sensitive and very specific.

Unlike target amplification genomic research (RT-PCR) techniques, antigen tests look for one or more proteins of the virus through specific antibodies without amplification. The main advantages are a rendering time of theoretically around 30 minutes (unlike several hours for conventional PCR) without the need for very sophisticated equipment. The main drawback that we will develop is a lower sensitivity than RT-PCR: a negative result will not be conclusive and should be interpreted with all the necessary caution.

The serology test, meanwhile, will provide information on possible contact with the virus. It will make it possible to objectify recent or late exposure to the virus. But be careful, it does not tell if you are a carrier of the virus and therefore contagious. It is recommended to wait at least 14 days between the onset of symptoms and the blood test for the serology to be interpretable. This is the time it will take for the immune system to make anti Sars-Cov-2 antibodies.

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In view of the available information, the passage of the COVID-19 coronavirus from humans to another animal species currently seems unlikely, and the possible contamination of foodstuffs of animal origin (DAOA) from an animal infected with COVID-19 is excluded.

Raw or undercooked foods do not present any particular risk of transmission of infection, as long as the usual good hygiene rules are observed when handling and preparing food.

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To date, no water contamination has been reported. This disease is transmitted from person to person by the droplet route (coughing, sneezing, hands soiled by the droplets). The original source of the virus has not yet been identified but appears to be of animal origin.

Other coronaviruses cause diseases that can be transmitted to humans in animals, but this is rare. However, there are isolated cases outside of the United States where several pets have tested positive for COVID-19 after long contact with humans. There is also the case of 2 cats in two different states in New York State, who contracted COVID-19 transmitted by their respective owners. These 2 cats showed mild symptoms. In addition, several tigers at a New York zoo who developed symptomatic respiratory illness, including a cough, tested positive for COVID-19.

A team of Chinese researchers have published an online study showing that domestic cats can be experimentally infected with the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Cats receiving a high dose of the virus could also infect cats in nearby cages, suggesting aerosol transmission. It is not clear whether cats can act as a reservoir and host for the virus, or transmit it to humans, but the risk of them being a source of infection is obviously low. This team of researchers also tried to infect ferrets, dogs, pigs, chickens and ducks. The virus replicated poorly in dogs, pigs, chickens and ducks, but it did replicate efficiently in ferrets and cats.

It is important to note that there is no evidence to date of infection of the COVID-19 virus in humans from domestic animals. However, until it becomes clearer, it is recommended that pets do not come into contact with humans or other animals outdoors. Patients infected with COVID-19 should limit contact with their pets. They should also wash their hands before and after each contact, as well as their families.

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No, there is no evidence of transmission of the virus through mosquitoes, or any other animal for that matter. COVID-19 is transmitted between humans, via respiratory droplets.

Under conditions conducive to its survival, the virus could survive, in the form of traces, for several days on a surface. However, just because a virus survives does not mean that it is enough to infect a person who touches that surface. Indeed, after a few hours, the vast majority of the virus dies and is probably no longer contagious. As a reminder, the high transmissibility of COVID-19 is not linked to its survival on surfaces, but to its transmission when we cough, sneeze, talk or by droplets expelled and transmitted by the hands. This is why it is important to respect barrier gestures and social distancing measures.

No, it can’t live in the air on its own. The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is spread through droplets, which are respiratory secretions that are emitted when we cough, sneeze or speak.

The virus is carried by droplets, it does not circulate in the air on its own, but can reach a person nearby (<1 meter) or attach to a surface soiled by the droplets, such as hands or handkerchiefs. This is why it is important to respect barrier gestures and social distancing measures.

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The risk is always present, and the longer and closer the contact, the higher the risk of contamination (more than 15 minutes, within a meter). This is the reason why social distancing and barrier measures must be applied. It is therefore possible to live with a COVID-19 case at home if the barrier gestures are scrupulously respected.

The disease is spread by droplets (secretions that are invisible during a discussion, sneezing or coughing). It is therefore considered that close contact with a sick person is necessary to transmit the disease: same place, direct contact within a meter during a discussion, cough, sneeze or in the lack of protective measures.

One of the other preferred vectors of virus transmission is contact with unwashed hands contaminated with droplets.

This is why barrier gestures and social distancing measures are essential to protect yourself from the disease.

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To date there are no sufficiently robust scientific arguments in this favor. Research is continuing today to learn more about the virus. It should be remembered that the vast majority of virus mutations are neutral, and remain so more often beneficial for humans than the reverse. In fact, in the majority of epidemics, viruses evolve towards less danger but more diffusion.

I am a contact person or a risk contact if, in the absence of effective protective measures throughout the duration of the contact (physical separation such as a window; surgical mask or FFP2 worn by the person positive for COVID-19 OR the contact person; consumer mask manufactured according to the Afnor standard or equivalent worn by the person positive for COVID-19 AND the contact person), I have:

• Shared the same living space as the confirmed or expected case.
• Had direct contact with a person tested positive for Covid-19, face to face, within 1 meter regardless of the duration (eg conversation, meal, hugs…). On the other hand, people crossed quickly in public space are not considered as a contact person or risk contact.
• Performed or received acts of hygiene or care.
• Shared a confined space (office or meeting room, personal vehicle, etc.) for at least 15 min with a confirmed case or having remained face to face with a positive case during several bouts of coughing or sneezing.
• Been a student or teacher in the same class (kindergarden, elementary, secondary, tutorial group at university…) as the positive case.

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A lot of symptoms remain unknown. However mild forms of the disease tend to go away within two weeks. For several illnesses the median time of development of dyspnea is 5 to 8 days, and the median time to onset of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is 8 to 12 days. 26% to 32% of hospitalised patients are admitted to an ICU. In ICU patients, mortality is between 39% and 72%. The median length of hospital stay for survivors was 10 to 13 days.

The incubation time is the period between contamination and the appearance of the first symptoms. The incubation time for COVID-19 is typically 3 to 5 days, however, it can extend up to 14 days. During this period, the subject may be contagious: they may be a carrier of the virus before symptoms appear or when weak signals appear.

If you have any of the main symptoms of coronavirus:

• Get a test to check if you have coronavirus as soon as possible: we test symptomatic people. BOOK YOUR COVID19 TEST RIGHT NOW.
• You and the people you live with should stay at home and not be visited until you receive your test results – remain indoors except for having your PCR test done.

Everyone in your support bubble should also stay at home if you have been in close contact with them since your symptoms started or within the 48 hours before they started.

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The main symptoms are fever or a feeling of fever and cough.

Sudden loss of smell, without nasal obstruction and complete disappearance of taste are also symptoms that have been observed in patients.

In people developing more severe forms, there is difficulty breathing, which can lead to intensive care hospitalization and death.

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The first people to contract the virus visited Wuhan market in Hubei province, China. The disease therefore seems to come from an animal (zoonosis) but the origin has not been confirmed.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses, which cause illnesses ranging from a common cold (some seasonal viruses are coronaviruses) to more severe illnesses such as MERS-CoV or SARS.

The virus identified in January 2020 in China is a new coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2. The disease caused by this coronavirus has been named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization – WHO. Since March 11, 2020, WHO has called the global COVID-19 situation pandemic, the point at which the epidemic was global.

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First, you need to check your junk email. If the confirmation is not there, it might mean that the payment didn’t go through. Call us on 020 3828 3580 or email us at contact@biogroup-laboratory.co.uk.

When you come in-clinic for your test, you need to bring:

• The QR code you received in your confirmation email
• Your passport or ID
• A face mask

In-clinic tests

• Next-day PCR (Fit to Fly / Day 2): next day at 6PM
• Same-day PCR (Fit to Fly): same day by midnight (if you get tested before 3PM only)
• Same-day PCR (Day 2): same day by midnight if you get tested before 12PM, overnight by 6AM if you get tested after 12PM
• Ultra Rapid PCR: 1-2 hours (if you get tested before 5PM only)
• Lateral Flow Antigen Test: Within 1 hour

Home tests

• Home PCR: 24 hours from arrival of the sample at the laboratory
• Home PCR Day 2: 24 hours from arrival of the sample at the laboratory
• Home Lateral Flow Antigen: Within 2 hrs from receipt of your picture (between 8AM-8PM)