I thought I’d give a brief a run down of our Covid-19 testing experience as loads of people seem to be finding it difficult to work out what to do and when to do it. My disclaimer is that this is only my experience and I realise it may be different for other people and could have been considerably harder/more stressful.
Over the weekend myself, Micah and Tabitha all had a bit of a cold. It seemed to hit Tabitha hardest and on Monday she had a bit of a fever. In line with government advice we decided to quarantine at home and hunt down a test. I suspected it was just a cold but I’m not a doctor and we didn’t want to put anyone else at risk.
So from Tuesday morning I started the hunt for a test. I went online and there were tests available in Liverpool and Barrow-In-Furness. However by the time I put my details in, they’d all gone. I asked friends via Facebook for any tips and I tried ringing 119 after people recommended it, but their wait times were long and they repeatedly said they had no different appointments to those online.
I spent most of the day refreshing the browser and checking for spots. My parents very kindly did the same and eventually about 6:30pm some spots came up for 3 different testing places in Leeds. I got a spot for both myself and Tabitha.
It took a decent amount of time and effort but if I put in to context it’s really not that bad. I’ve queued for 8 hours to get Leeds United play off tickets (they lost 3-0), I’ve been on hold for hours to get tickets for various concerts in the past and I’ve lined up in the winter to get one of the first PlayStation Portables on release. In the grand scheme of things sitting on my sofa tapping refresh, occasionally having to re-enter my details isn’t too bad.
The actual test process was straight forward. Tabs and I drove over arriving 30 mins before our appointment and we were ushered straight through. They scanned our QR codes through the window and handed over 2 testing kits.
We parked up and I read the instructions throughly. I did the test on myself first to get used to it. It was unpleasant, especially trying to get swap right to the back of my mouth for my tonsils, but nothing too bad. I then did it for Tabitha and sealed all the bags, etc. I passed it through the window into a box and we drove away about 30 mins after we arrived.
Less than 24 hours later we got the negative results texted through and we were free(ish) once again: Micah back to school, Tabitha’s first day in reception and Judah’s first day in nursery could all go ahead.
So, in summary, was it a perfect process? No. Did it have a lasting negative affect on our lives? No.
The NHS are doing a cracking job and the press are inevitably hyping it up more than is ever necessary. The government can always do more to make things smoother but to be fair to them it is prime time for the essential ‘sport’ of grouse shooting so give them a break...
