Pharmaceutical retailer, Dis-Chem, is now offering free Covid-19 testing to South Africans who are unemployed or do not have medical aid.
As a result of the current national backlog of Covid-19 testing, the Western Cape government has decided not to test people aged 55 or younger in the Cape metro if they have no underlying conditions.
For this reason Dis-Chem says it has partnered with the Solidarity Fund to offer free testing, however, South Africans must apply to be tested and only qualifying applicants will be tested.
In order to qualify, applicants can’t be a member of a medical scheme nor be employed. Other criteria may include whether the person is a pensioner, disabled or orphaned.
To apply for the test citizens can:
- Call the Doctors-on-Call 087 055 0234 (weekdays from 08:00 to 17:00)
- Call Momentum’s Hello Doctor service on *120*394#
- Get a referral via the Discovery and Vodacom free Covid-19 consultations
- Or get a referral from a family doctor (who may refer you via his or her Vula App)
Dis-Chem will send an SMS with a voucher to redeem for testing purposes, as well as directions to the nearest Dis-Chem testing site.
The results will reportedly be available within three to five days.
