A white tent in the front parking area of Salud Digna on Guadalajara’s Avenida Americas is a clue that something unusual is going on at the laboratory, known for its wide range of economical medical tests, given without a doctor’s order, on either a walk-in basis or by internet appointment.
Similarly, a few blocks away, on Avenida Mexico, early birds may notice a line forming in the morning at a branch of Unidad de Patologia Clinica, a similar lab with a reputation for trustworthiness and higher prices.
Covid-19 is the reason for all the activity, as these two branches of the two labs are the only local places where people wanting a PCR swab test for the disease can get one, often without showing symptoms – assuming they can pay – 1,300 pesos ($US58) at Salud Digna and 5,000 pesos ($US224) at Unidad de Patologia. (While free swab tests are given at local public hospitals designated for Covid-19 care, the health authorities that run them do not give the tests on demand and, in fact, are said to follow strict screening to decide who gets them.)
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