Aruba Automated COVID PCR Testing in Partnership with OK2Roam

Aruba has implemented automated COVID PCR testing, which eliminates the need for tourists to wait for their findings.

The destination has partnered with OK2Roam, a service that allows approved labs to provide negative test results directly to the country’s Embarkation-Disembarkation card entry portal.

All travelers, including minors and infants, must register for an ED card, and confirmation of a negative PCR test within 72 hours of entering the country is necessary for all travelers above the age of 11, including those who have already been vaccinated.

VFS Global, which has created an international network of government-approved COVID-19 testing laboratories, and OK2Roam, which provides a secure data link between the lab network and Aruba’s platform, are collaborating on the new service.

It will first be sold via Stage Zero Life Sciences and Same Day Health in Canada and the United States.

Travellers will have the option of conducting a video-supervised saliva test at home or visiting one of more than 50 test centers around the United States.

The method, according to OK2Roam, will eliminate the delays and obstacles associated with having to physically inspect PCR tests before permitting entrance.

Aruba’s Minister of Tourism and Public Health, Danguillaume Oduber, said: “Throughout the pandemic, and even before, Aruba has been keen to embrace the latest technology to make our destination more welcoming and people’s travel experience more seamless.

“This excellent idea, which we are delighted to pioneer with OK2Roam and VFS Global, also has the advantage that it will likely save us time, money and administrative complexity too.”

VFS Global’s head of business development, Chris Dix, said: “We are eager to see our project with OK2Roam and Aruba succeed.

“Once it is successfully launched and delivers the projected benefits, we are confident of being able to help many of our client governments make their borders more efficient and more bio-secure.”

OK2Roam’s chief executive and co-founder David Tarsh added: “Recent research from IATA validates our approach: passengers loath queuing; and 73% of them would willingly share their biometric data to receive a better travel experience.

“With Aruba, we are taking the world one step closer to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s vision of a seamless traveller journey, enabled by the latest technology.”