While the cost of the test has not yet been confirmed by Lloydspharmacy, a MyHealthChecked spokesperson told C+D today (January 5) that the test retails at £20.

Customers will be able to take the test at home before travelling or bring it with them overseas and take it before returning to the UK, according to MyHealthChecked.

The tests will be available for purchase via the Lloydspharmacy website only, the spokesperson clarified.

The results will be “verified by a trained professional within two hours of completing the test”, MyHealthChecked wrote in its announcement. Prospective flyers will then receive “a certificate suitable for outbound or return travel”.

“MyHealthChecked works exclusively with [medical services provider] Mediskills, who are all NHS staff, to verify the results,” the spokesperson told C+D.

Customers can only have their results checked and certificates issued within two hours during MyHealthChecked’s UK business hours, they added. The company operates from 8am to 5pm between Monday and Friday, and from 9am to 5pm on weekends and bank holidays.

Meeting evolving travel protocols

Lloydspharmacy already stocks a MyHealthChecked at-home PCR test that can be used for international travel, as well as Day 2 and Day 8 PCR test kits.

Chief executive officer of MyHealthChecked Penny McCormick said she was “pleased to build on our existing relationship with Lloydspharmacy with our new COVID-19 antigen test service for travel”.

The company expects to continue working with the pharmacy “as testing protocols for travel continue to evolve”, she added.

Earlier today, PA Media reported that the UK government would likely scrap pre-departure COVID-19 tests for people flying to the UK from abroad. Testing rules for international travel will be discussed at a meeting of the cabinet’s COVID-19 operations committee today.