Early during lockdown I had an annoying dry cough, I felt tired and I had a headache. I rarely get respiratory tract infections but I was a bit run down. It was mild, however with the emergence of COVID, and the risk I presented to infecting others through my work, I rang Healthline to see if it would make sense to test me for COVID-19. The animated voice on the end of the phone gave me different options and I had to stay in a queue for 20 minutes early on a Sunday morning until I was connected with an operator who took my details and advised me that it would make sense to have a test, but that a registered nurse would call me to make the final decision. Within the next hour I received a call from a nurse who checked my details and told me where I needed to go for testing.
Testing was at our local Health Centre and was a well organised “drive through”. We stayed in our car and drove up to the collection booth. We were greeted by a cheerful testing team all gowned up ready for action. They checked over our details, showed them my photo ID and then a nurse came and did the swab.
Was it painful? No
Was it uncomfortable? A little. A bit like eating too much wasabi or horseradish. It is a weird experience and you need to hold still.
What about children? Children can be swabbed too although there are issues with cooperation due to not understanding what is happening, movement during the procedure and refusal due to discomfort or fear. I would only advocate testing a child if it was indicated and really necessary.
Below is a youtube link if you’d like to see it done live. You may prefer not to watch it, but it is available there for those of you who do. https://youtu.be/DVJNWefmHjE
All in all I had a positive experience. You get an updated information sheet that answers questions you may have. If your swab is positive then you are called by the Ministry of Health. If your swab is negative you will receive a text message. You can also get the result from your GP. Fortunately mine was negative.
The reliability of testing is a topic of hot debate. That’s for another blog, another day.
