FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1) About Reservation and Test Procedure
1.1. How do I make an appointment?
Please visit our website at http://apostledx.com to make online reservations and pay for the test service.
1.2. What kind of testing service is provided? How long does it take to get my testing report? What is the corresponding price of the test?
For travel to China:
(For customers flying to China) rtPCR Test (within 48 hours prior to departure) For China Travel
This service is a rtPCR test including test for travel to China purpose per China government's new regulation starting November 2022. China government's new travel regulation starting November 2022 requires the COVID-19 test to be performed by a clinical lab, within 48 hours prior to the departure.
1.3. (Only for customers flying to China) How to complete the customs health declaration form prior to the flight to China?
Per the regulation of China government, you need to complete the customs health declaration form and fill in the COVID-19 test result prior to the flight to China. You can complete the declaration at: https://htdecl.chinaport.gov.cn/htdeclweb/home/pages/healthDeclare/declare.html or through the relevant WeChat or mobile app.
1.4. What are Apostle Diagnostics’ business hours? Do we provide service on weekends/holidays?
Mon-Sat 9:00AM-6PM
For the purpose of better service, we accept reservations on holidays.
We offer COVID-19 rtPCR tests and antibody tests for schools, organizations, events, and individuals. Please refer to the specific service page for details.
1.5. Where do I take my test?
Please take the tests at our testing sites, located at
(1) 160 E Tasman Dr. STE 116, San Jose, CA 95134. The lab is located near the parking lot at the back of the building.
1.6. When should I reserve my test?
China government's new travel regulation starting November 2022 requires the COVID-19 test to be performed by a clinical lab, within 48 hours prior to the departure.
1.7. How much time in advance should I make a reservation?
We suggest making your reservation as soon as possible.
1.8. Please tell me the exact procedure to make a reservation. Is there anything I should bring and prepare before my ride to the testing spot?
(1) Please visit our website to make the online reservation at https://apostledx.com . We suggest our customers pay online with credit cards, including UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Paying with a debit card online may cause problems due to the daily limitation. If you are ordering a testing service for multiple people or others, please fill out the name and birthday of the people who are going to have the test in the comment section. After the payment, you will receive a confirmation email with your Order ID. Please print out the email and bring it on your way to the test location.
(2) Go to https://apostledx.com/portal/, click on Patient Registration to fill out your personal information. If there are multiple people being tested in one order, you will need to fill out the form for each person. Please fill out the form in English and make sure you entered the correct email address. After getting tested, you will receive a token, which is used to download the report at the same link provided above. As we have received multiple feedback from our customers that hotmail seems to consistently reject the emails sent from our system, please enter an email address other than hotmail. For each test, a notification will be sent by email when the report is ready to be downloaded. Again, please make sure the following information is accurate when you fill out the pre-registration as the information will be printed on your report: Name (make sure it is consistent with that on the passport/ID), birthday, gender, phone number (US), address (US) and ethnicity. You will receive a patient QR code or a PT ID after you complete this process.
(3) On the day of the test, please bring (1) your passport, (2) the confirmation email (refer to (1)), and (3) your patient QR code or a PT ID (refer to (2)). Our staff will check your identity before giving the tests.
(4) All customers must wear masks and other PPE.
1.9. What is the exact test procedure?
(1) Please arrive at our test lab 10 minutes before your reservation time: 160 E Tasman Dr, STE 115, San Jose, CA 95134. Your destination is a building called QBay. Please drive to the back of the building and our professional staff will give you further instructions. Elders over 75 years old, pregnant women and other people with mobility impairments will receive priority care and services. Please be prepared to wait in a line due to the number of travelers.
(2) Please provide your order number (in confirmation email) and patient number (from patient pre-registration), as well as your passport and vaccination record to our staff. After checking your identity, you will wait in line for tests.
(3) Please check your mail from support@apostledx.info, which will contain your information to download the reports. If you did not receive the email, please double check your spam and trash folders. For each test, you will receive two emails for this specific test: First, after taking the test, you will receive an email with the subject “Your test order has been received”. The email will contain the token you need to download the report (refer to 1.7(2)). Second, after the report is ready (usually between 2:00 to 7:00 PM), you will receive a second email with the subject “Your results have been released and are ready to report”. Please use your token as instructed above to download the report, which is in PDF format. The second email is only a reminder. If you do not receive the second email (or in the case our system's outgoing email is blocked by your email server), please directly use the token contained in the first email to download your report at the planned report time. The downloading website is: https://apostledx.com/portal/
1.10. Is there anything else that I need to know?
In order to accelerate the queue, please remember:
(1) Fill out pre-registration in advance (reference to 1.7(2)). You will be skipped in the line until you have finished the registration.
(2) We do not have a drive-through service, since we need to collect your venous blood sample. Please park your car, which is free, and wait in the line. Make sure to keep a social distance of 6 feet outside the building.
(3) Our staff will show you into the building and take tests.
(4) Please go back to your car and leave the building.
1.11. Can I reschedule or cancel my order? Is there a fee for making a change on the reservation?
Once you have reserved the time slot, no one else can reserve it. Please be cautious when choosing the time slot. If accidents happen, we do provide free rescheduling, but charge an extra 15% service fee on cancellation through email and phone. Please notice that by ordering the service, you have understood and agreed to our reschedule and cancellation policies described above.
1.12. How can I check my order after a successful reservation? Will I receive another email?
You will not receive an email other than the confirmation email after you have paid for the services.
1.13. Why can I not check my orders after registering an account and paying for the tests?
Apostle Diagnostics uses an ordering system from a third party. The system will show the order in your account only if you registered the account before placing the orders. As long as you receive your order numbers in the email, you have successfully made a reservation. If you insist on checking the order, you are more than welcome to call our customer service number (1-888-305-3218, 1-888-992-7678) by providing your name and email address.
1.14. Why did I get charged twice for the tests?
Multiple charges happen if you refresh your webpage while filling out your payment information or have accidently clicked multiple times on your orders. You can ask for a full refund on the overcharged part by calling our customer service number(1-888-305-3218, 1-888-992-7678).
1.15. What payment method do you accept? Does Apostle Diagnostics accept any kind of insurance including FSA, HSA, etc.?
Currently, we only accept the following payment method: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, UnionPay (card number starting with 62). For now, we DO NOT accept any insurance for the tests traveling to China. You may submit your payment receipt to your insurance company to request reimbursement after you have had the tests. It is subject to your insurance plan to decide if you will be reimbursed for the costs.
2) About Diagnostics and Report
2.1. (Only for customers flying to China) What is NAAT? What is PCR? Do your reports include NAAT and PCR?
NAAT is the abbreviation for Nucleic Acid Amplification Test. PCR is the abbreviation for Polymerase Chain Reaction. Simply put, PCR is a type of NAAT. Our nucleic acid test report includes both NAAT and PCR.
3) About the Service
3.1. What are the specific terms of your service?
Please be sure to read, understand, and agree to our relevant terms of service before paying for registration. Our relevant terms of service are here:
https://www.apostledx.com/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=5
In particular, please read, understand, and agree to the cancellation service and refund terms (including 15% cancellation fee). Please read, understand, and agree to the informed consent form for the service, including voluntary testing, the possibility of false positives and false negatives and the related potential risks and benefits, expenses, and release of liability clauses. Please read, understand, and agree to the clauses that the test results will be submitted to the government agency.
When you register, schedule an appointment, and order on the website, this means that you have read, understood, and agreed to the terms of service in detail. If you do not understand or agree to any terms of service, please leave this website immediately, do not pay or register, and stop using our services.
3.2. As a testing agency, what measures have you taken to reduce the risk of cross-infection during testing and protect public health?
Apostle Diagnostics has taken a series of measures to protect the safety of the tested population, reduce the risk of cross-infection, and protect the public interest:
(1) It is required that all persons tested must wear personal safety protective equipment. During the whole process of testing, personal safety protective equipment shall not be removed (except for nasopharyngeal swab testing).
(2) Persons wait in an open, outdoor area for the test to be carried out. There are professional staff on site to maintain order and ensure a healthy and safe distance of at least 2 meters (6 feet) between families and personnel.
(3) All the tested persons are required to observe the health and safety distance, observe the order of the site, and must not speak to people from other households unless necessary while on site.
(4) The tested person is required to return to the car and leave immediately after completing the test.
(5) Apostle Diagnostics strictly implements the testing methods authorized by the FDA in accordance with the testing standards and procedures, implementation of testing and reporting. No changes will be made to the testing process and results. The test report will be based on strict scientific standards and will not be affected by any factors other than scientific standards. In order to protect the interests of the public, positive cases will not be re-examined. It is recommended that positive cases immediately contact the family doctor to obtain medical help.
(6) After testing each subject, staff members properly handle the disposable sampling equipment. After the daily testing is over, the test environment is fully disinfected. A professional medical waste company will carry out disinfection and treatment of medical waste.
(7) We conduct daily internal COVID testing and COVID monitoring on staff. As frontline medical personnel, staff have begun to take the vaccine in accordance with California government regulations. Thereby reducing the risk of cross-infection and protecting the health of the tested and the public.
3.3. Will you submit test reports to relevant government agencies?
Due to the special nature of COVID-19 testing, the test report will be submitted to relevant government agencies in accordance with relevant laws and requirements, including: state government and CDC. Please note that by submitting appointments and orders on the website, it means that you have read, understood, and agreed to the terms of submission of the above test reports to government agencies.
3.4. (Only for customers flying to China) Can someone test negative and the next day test positive of COVID-19 ?
Yes, it is possible.
The first case is that you are negative on Day 1 and positive on Day 2. In this case, you may test negative if the sample was collected early in your infection and your viral load was not high enough to be detectable. Then, you may test positive the next day when your viral load is at a detectable level.
The second case is when you are positive on Day 1 and negative on Day 2. In this case, you may have been at the end of your infection on the first collection in which you may have low levels of the virus but sufficient to be detected by PCR – which is very sensitive. Then, the next day, your levels may not be high enough to be detected or almost null.
Other factors that can cause this are false positives or false negatives which may be due to sample collection technique variability, technician error during the process, or insufficient extraction of viral load during the process.
Even if you test negative and suspect that you may be positive or have been exposed, you should take steps to protect yourself and others.