PWM security
Travelers enter the security checkpoint June 24 at Portland International Jetport, which expects to set a three-month record for passengers this summer. (Portland Phoenix/Jim Neuger)
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The Portland Jetport will end its rapid PCR testing for COVID-19 on Dec. 28, ending what was considered one of the most reliable options to get immediate results for the virus.

The program was run by Curative, an organization that provides rapid Covid-19 testing and vaccinations across the U.S. It appears they are ending the national program entirely, according to the company’s website — it is not the Jetport’s decision. 

Zachary Sundquist, assistant airport director at the Portland International Jetport, said they were notified on Dec. 2 of Curative’s plan to stop testing Dec. 28. 

Curative launched in Portland in mid-December of 2021. The healthcare startup company is based out of San Dimas, California.
A spokesperson for Curative said that the company’s “initial goal was always to work our way out of the COVID-19 services business by helping the country manage through and emerge safely from the pandemic,” and is now “focusing on other challenges in the healthcare industry, moving into the next phase of the company with the recent launch of our new health plan. The company plans to move toward offering health plans.

The decision to end rapid PCR testing comes at a time when Covid-19 cases are on the rise, and as experts have warned of the impacts of a “tripledemic,” or a mix of Covid-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, otherwise known as RSV. These overlapping outbreaks could potentially strain an already overburdened healthcare system, according to a recent New York Times story, and hospitalizations for the three viruses have been rising around the country.

The announcement also coincides with the Biden Administration’s decision to resume offering free at-home antigen tests for those who request them. The government had ended this program in the summer, but President Joe Biden announced last week tests are now available for households to order from covidtests.gov. 

 

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