When Ian Hutcheon inquired about getting a COVID-19 test last month at a Walgreens pharmacy in Gold Canyon, Ariz., before his flight home to Calgary, he got a pleasant surprise.
“I happened to ask to speak to the pharmacist, who said, ‘Oh, we can test you for free,'” said Hutcheon. “I was a little incredulous, but he insisted.”
As a result, Canada’s testing requirement has sparked protests from politicians and tourism groups on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, who complain the tests can be cost-prohibitive.
But CBC News interviewed six Canadians who recently travelled to the U.S., and got a free molecular test at a pharmacy or a clinic before their return to Canada.
“It’s mind-blowing to think that people are paying $200 for those tests,” said Andrew D’Amours, who is the co-founder of the travel information website, Flytrippers.
D’Amours, of Trois-Rivières, Que., has taken three free tests in the U.S. and written about the topic for his site.
“It’s so easy to get it for free,” he said.
Ian Hutcheon and Colleen McMechan, of Calgary, each got free COVID-19 tests at a Walgreens location in Arizona last month before returning to Canada. (Submitted by Ian Hutcheon)
However, there are caveats: Travellers may not be guaranteed to get their test results in time, and may not find free tests at their U.S. destination.
But the stars aligned for Hutcheon and his wife, Colleen McMechan. At Walgreens, they each took a self-administered free Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) test, which is listed as an accepted test by the Canadian government.
The couple had booked their tests online one day in advance, listing their hotel when asked to provide an address. Hutcheon said they faced no issues when they drove their rental car to Walgreens the following day to take the test at the pharmacy’s drive-thru testing site.
“They took the swab and about two hours later, the results appeared in my email inbox,” he said. “We printed them and took them with us to the airport and it was all smooth sailing.”
Why are the tests free?
The tests that Hutcheon and other Canadian travellers have received aren’t actually free, but instead funded by the U.S. government. It has put measures in place to make low or no-cost COVID-19 tests available to everyone in the U.S., including those who don’t have U.S. medical insurance.
“They want people to get tested,” said Jeremy Gelbart, co-founder of BeeperMD, a COVID-19 testing company that comes to people’s homes — or hotel rooms — to provide free PCR tests. (Individuals who book a same-day test for one person, however, must pay a booking fee.)
WATCH | U.S. land border reopens:
Long lines greet eager travellers at the border
The border between Canada and the U.S. reopened today and some Albertans are eager to travel, even if that means waiting two to three hours at the Coutts-Sweet Grass crossing. 1:15
BeeperMD services customers in New York City and most regions in Florida. The company has already provided free tests to thousands of Canadian travellers, including snowbirds, Gelbart said.
BeeperMD typically provides test results within 36 hours and will do everything it can to ensure travellers get their results within Canada’s required 72-hour window, he said. But he cautions there are no guarantees for non-paying customers.
As a precaution, Gelbart advises travellers to book their free tests a couple of days in advance.
“If people are prepared, they’ll be fine,” he said. “We try to be as accommodating as possible.”
Quick NAAT tests
Four of the Canadians interviewed used a Walgreens drive-thru site to take a free, self-administered NAAT test, which the pharmacy chain calls an ID NOW test. Each traveller said they pre-booked their test online at least one day in advance and got their results within three hours of testing.
D’Amours has twice taken a NAAT test at Walgreens: once in May in Newark, N.J., and the second time on Sunday in Baton Rouge, La. He said the NAAT tests are the best option for Canadians, because they provide quick results.
“I would say it’s a game changer.”
Several Canadians told CBC News they got free, self-administered COVID-19 tests via a Walgreens drive-thru location. (Submitted by Andrew D’Amours)
Walgreens did not respond to requests for comment. However, the pharmacy chain’s website states that it offers no-cost COVID-19testing at select locations.
It also says that PCR test results are typically provided within 48 hours, but without a guarantee. However, its NAAT test is performed on-site, and results are available within 24 hours.
Walgreens also states that customers need to provide a valid state ID or driver’s licence and insurance card.
None of the people interviewed by CBC said they were denied for having a Canadian driver’s licence and no U.S.-based medical insurance.
“We just [showed] our Canadian driver’s licence IDs and that worked perfectly fine,” said Haris Naeem Nini, of Milton, Ont. He and his wife, Mariam Haris, each got free NAAT tests at a Walgreens drive-thru in the Buffalo area in May.
Haris Naeem and Mariam Haris Nini, of Milton, Ont., each got free NAAT tests at a Walgreens in the Buffalo area in May, just before returning to Canada. (Submitted by Haris Naeem Nini )
Walgreens states that customers can only get tested by car via a drive-thru. Nini said the couple didn’t have a vehicle, so they went through the drive-thru in an Uber.
“The experience was a breeze and obviously didn’t cost us anything — except for the Uber ride.”
In September, Delores Davidson also received a free test, but she went to a CVS pharmacy drive-thru in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and got a PCR test. She said she had to pre-book her appointment online and it took about 24 hours to get the results.
“It was quick and easy,” said Davidson, who lives in Calgary. “We never paid. We were never charged.”
CVS also did not respond to requests for comment.
Free test warnings
D’Amours warns that the NAAT/ID NOW tests aren’t available at all Walgreen locations, so Canadians should check online before making U.S. travel plans. Travellers may also need to book their free test several days in advance to secure an appointment, he said.
D’Amours further advises travellers to stay informed during their travels — in case the U.S. suddenly changes its no-cost test policy. “You never know, with the U.S. [land] border reopening, will they get too many Canadians and decide to scrap it?”
Another traveller also has a warning.
Petar Sesar, of London, Ont., said he and his fiancée, Mara Bakula, tried to get a free PCR test at a CVS in Cleveland in August, but were told it would take at least four days to get their results.
“I said, ‘How long will it take, because we plan on leaving for Canada tomorrow,'” said Sesar. “They kind of laughed at us when we suggested that we would be using the test results to travel.”
The couple wound up paying $200 US each at a clinic to get PCR tests with guaranteed quick results.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
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