Frequently Asked Questions

You can come directly to a 9Lives testing location even without a referral from a doctor. However, a referral is always needed for a test, so you will be provided with one on site. Register no later than an hour before you arrive for the test so that your referral has time to be completed.

We recommend you to register and pay online in advance to avoid our testing locations getting unnecessarily crowded.

It is possible to pay for the test by card at the location, but we recommend advance payment online.

The price of the test depends on whether you are entitled to reimbursement by Kela, The Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Kela reimburses medical costs but the reimbursement does not cover testing for other purposes, such as getting a doctor’s certificate for travelling.

Please see the pricing here.

Both the PCR test and the rapid antigen test are done by inserting a bendy test instrument through the patient’s nose into the throat.

A positive antigen test must be confirmed by a PCR test. Registration for a separately paid PCR confirmation test is done by purchasing the test through the online form.

We will provide your test results by sending you an SMS message. If you purchase an additional certificate, a download link is sent to your email within couple of hours after your test result message. Remember to check your spam folders also. If your result is positive, we will also notify the relevant healthcare authorities which will prompt a healthcare professional to contact you by phone for further instructions.

The PCR test is estimated to be ready in approximately 12-24 hours and the antigen test in 30 minutes. The time for PCR test may vary depending on location, time of day or week and logistics. Until you have received your test results, you must remain in quarantine-like conditions at home.

You can reach our testing sites by car or on foot. At certain times, there might be some queues at the testing locations and you might have to wait for your turn for a short while.

If you are arriving at our drive-in testing locations by car, please follow signs with a car symbol and the text KORONATESTAUS. Please remain in your car at all times. We recommend you to keep safety distances and follow the instructions you receive at the testing site. It is not necessary for you to leave your car during testing.

If you are walking to a testing location, please follow signs with a pedestrian symbol and the text KORONATESTAUS. Please use a face mask and remember safety distances. We recommend you to follow the instructions you receive at the testing site.

If you order a taxi trip reimbursed by Kela due to your health condition, you will need a certificate issued by the health care provider. The right to reimburse Kela for a taxi trip is also in a situation where public transport connections are not available.

Taksi Helsinki
Lähitaksi
Fixutaksi
Menevä Oy

Certain airlines or border officials may demand passengers arriving from Finland to provide a Coronavirus Certificate to prove they have been tested negative for COVID-19. If you need such certificate for travelling, please select the option ’I need an official certificate of the coronavirus test’ when booking your test. The price of the certificate is 20 euros and it will be sent to your as an encrypted email message, or by mail to your home if you so require. We are able to provide certificates in English and Finnish. If you want your passport number or other additional information into your certificate, mention this at the sampling point. Please also check out Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL’s current recommendations for travelling from and to Finland: https://thl.fi/en/web/infectious-diseases-and-vaccinations/what-s-new/coronavirus-covid-19-latest-updates/travel-and-the-coronavirus-pandemic.