AUC Launches COVID-19 Drive-Through Testing

By: Eman Kharoshah and Dania Akkawi
Photo: Doha Wang

@Daniaakkawi
@Emankharoshahh

Vice-President for Management and Operations Shereen Shaker announced via email on Monday that the COVID-19 drive-through testing station located between Gates 2 and 3 now serves the general public, with a discounted rate to be offered to the AUC community at a later date.

The station, which comes in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, and is entirely operated and administered by Prime Speed Medical (a licensed medical testing provider in Egypt), will provide Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR) and antibody testing.

PCR tests use a sample of the patient’s mucus either through the patient’s nose or throat to look for the genetic material of COVID-19. While antibody tests do not indicate whether the person tested has coronavirus at the time of testing, they can identify if this person had the virus before and recovered from it. 

“The unit outside the campus already started operating on a trial basis last Wednesday,” AUC Counselor Ashraf Hatem told The Caravan.

For the time being, the service will only be available for three months but it may be extended if necessary, he added. Hatem also confirmed that a second testing unit will soon be set up inside Gate 2 exclusively for the AUC community.

Hatem said that at both stations, swabs of individuals being tested will be collected on site and the actual analysis carried out in labs in Ain Shams University Hospitals, which is a governmental institution. 

“The results are reported on the same day via SMS or WhatsApp message and the reports are generated the following day by the lab and are authenticated, stamped and accredited and should be accepted at different governmental and diplomatic institutions,” he added.

While the university says it will not be involved in any way in the administration of the test or the results, Hatem confirmed that AUC provides logistical support for both units (utilities and so on).

Members of the AUC community will be eligible for the discounted testing prices starting July 8. 

According to Shaker’s email, the PCR test costs EGP 2,000 and the antibodies test costs EGP 400. The discounted rates for AUC will be EGP 1,500 for the PCR test and EGP 350 for the antibodies test.

When asked about campus well-being once the second station begins operations, Hatem said that the university “maintains the highest levels of safety and hygiene for all community members who are currently partially working from campus”.