Amazon to sell cheap PCR tests

Amazon will be selling cheap PCR tests for travellers.

Amazon is set to begin selling low-cost PCR tests for travellers, with campaigners and experts saying the move will force other firms to lower their prices.

The PCR kits from Amazon will cost £34.99 each and travellers can use them upon arriving in the UK, where they must now take a PCR test regardless of whether they are fully vaccinated or not and must isolate until they receive a negative result.

These testing kits are significantly cheaper than other providers and can also be bought in discount “bundles” of up to six tests, however, they are yet to be added to the Government’s list of test providers.

The PCR testing system in the UK has faced a lot of criticism for failing to stop test providers from overcharging customers. Some providers have been found to have misled people about their pricing and many customers have reported purchasing kits that never arrived.

Amazon may now shake the market by bringing out testing kits that are half the price of some of the providers on the market.

Included in the kit is a pre-paid return label for sending swabs to Amazon’s lab in Manchester and it has also guaranteed a 24-hour turnaround for results.

Neena Bhati, a spokeswoman for consumer group Which? Said of the new tests: “Which? research has repeatedly exposed providers making misleading claims, charging rip-off prices and in some cases not even returning test results to customers, so Amazon’s entry into the market could offer some benefits to travellers such as access to quicker deliveries, which will be crucial over the Christmas holidays.”

Amazon’s EU Covid testing director Antoine Dreyfus said: “Widespread access to reliable and affordable Covid-19 testing remains a critical tool in the fight against the spread of the virus.”

“The Amazon test collection kit offers customers the convenience they’ve come to expect from [us] by providing access to highly accurate Covid-19 testing, at an affordable price.”

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