Coronavirus testing

[Steam Man]

Has anyone had a coronavirus test what does it consist of and how far did you have to go to do it.
I’ve heard stories about people having to travel to the other end of the country to do the test, I’m a bit worried about my education being disrupted and then having to go and get a test, I don’t really want to travel to the other end of the country to do the test.

 

[MattA7]

My mother is tested every week as are all staff in her workplace. the test consists of a swab at the back of your throat Around your tonsils and then stuck up your nose (as far as they can shove it apparently). The rules of where you drive are extremely strict and you don’t dare exit the vehicle.

I believe if you don’t have a car you can order a home test kit or attend a walk-in test center

 

[AndrewBiro]

If you don't have symptoms dont try to get a test.

I had a fever (flu) 3 weeks ago and could only get a home test kit sent to me. Fine - i wasn't well enough to be driven to a test centre anyway! It took a week from the time I requested a test for the (negative) results to arrive which made it useless.

They arent sending people all over the country anymore - you probably just can't get a test - key workers have priority.

 

[WelshBluebird]

I had some symptoms last weekend (mainly just a cough). I didn't think it was COVID but looked online to see if I could get a test just to make sure.
Nothing.
I don't drive, so am limited to at home tests - which there were none of, and walk in centre tests (because I live in Bristol city centre, there are two walk in centees within 30 min walk from me, what would happen if I lived somewhere more out of the way - who knows!) - which also had no appointments available.
So I just left it for a day and the cough disappeared. so *shrug*.

I did out of curiosity check this morning and the site just straight away gave a message saying there are no more tests and to look again tomorrow. That was before even putting my postcode in so clearly a nationwide problem!

And given schools have gone back, students have gone back and we are coming towards winter, the number of people with symptoms is going to increase by a huge amount, so the pressure on the testing system is going to get much worse, even ignoring the increases in COVID cases also increasing the number of people with symptoms needing a test.

 

[Bantamzen]

Just as a matter of interest, when ordering a test does it ask you if you have all of the recognised symptoms?

 

[BJames]

Has anyone had a coronavirus test what does it consist of and how far did you have to go to do it.
I’ve heard stories about people having to travel to the other end of the country to do the test, I’m a bit worried about my education being disrupted and then having to go and get a test, I don’t really want to travel to the other end of the country to do the test.

I had a test last week, and will say this:

-The test is not pleasant but it doesn't really hurt as much as I thought it would.
-Don't try and get a test that far away. There may be shockingly low levels of capacity but there will be one available near you if you keep trying. FWIW it took me three days to get one in my borough, after having me offered one over 60 miles away originally. If you can't get one near you just sit out the isolation period. Remember you shouldn't (i.e. are not allowed to) use public transport to get to a testing site - if this is your only method of transportation then you need to get one at a local walk-through site or try and get a home test kit.
-I recognise this is unlikely to be suitable for a lot of people but if you cannot get a test through the NHS and you urgently need to know, it is offered privately by quite a few companies.
-In answer to @Bantamzen above, it asks you if you have at least one of the three recognised symptoms - you just need to select yes or no. They don't check or even ask you if you have symptoms when you get to the test site (at least they didn't at mine). But I imagine if you select no it tells you you're not eligible, so I'm sure everyone just selects Yes at this stage.

Good luck getting a test, and if you are unwell then I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[Bantamzen]

I had a test last week, and will say this:

-The test is not pleasant but it doesn't really hurt as much as I thought it would.
-Don't try and get a test that far away. There may be shockingly low levels of capacity but there will be one available near you if you keep trying. FWIW it took me three days to get one in my borough, after having me offered one over 60 miles away originally. If you can't get one near you just sit out the isolation period. Remember you shouldn't (i.e. are not allowed to) use public transport to get to a testing site - if this is your only method of transportation then you need to get one at a local walk-through site or try and get a home test kit.
-I recognise this is unlikely to be suitable for a lot of people but if you cannot get a test through the NHS and you urgently need to know, it is offered privately by quite a few companies.
-In answer to @Bantamzen above, it asks you if you have at least one of the three recognised symptoms - you just need to select yes or no. They don't check or even ask you if you have symptoms when you get to the test site (at least they didn't at mine). But I imagine if you select no it tells you you're not eligible, so I'm sure everyone just selects Yes at this stage.

Good luck getting a test, and if you are unwell then I wish you a speedy recovery.

Thanks for the reply, so basically anyone with any one of the symptoms could be requesting tests. I expect the whole job to meltdown even more than now as winter sets in.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Just as a matter of interest, when ordering a test does it ask you if you have all of the recognised symptoms?

Yes, or rather it gives you a list of reasons why, of which "I have <list of symptoms>" is one of them. There used to be "other" but this has been removed.

Thanks for the reply, so basically anyone with any one of the symptoms could be requesting tests. I expect the whole job to meltdown even more than now as winter sets in.

Of course that's the Government's stupid fault.

 

[Bantamzen]

Yes, or rather it gives you a list of reasons why, of which "I have <list of symptoms>" is one of them. There used to be "other" but this has been removed.



Of course that's the Government's stupid fault.

I'm glad to here "other" has been removed, that probably didn't help matters much. But it seems to me that there is going to be a need to get more specific in test requesting, otherwise it will just never work properly.

 

[Howardh]

Is the answer under our noses (well, not OUR noses...)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54288067 So security could have two dogs, Rover to sniff out drugs and Bessie to sniff out the covid! Would be a lot cheaper (and probably more accurate) then "Moonshot".

Sniffer dogs are a familiar sight at airports all over the world, where border agents use them to detect illegal substances and contraband.

Now some dogs are using their noses for a different purpose - coronavirus.
Dogs specially trained to detect Covid-19 have this week started sniffing passengers as part of a trial at Finland's Helsinki-Vantaa airport.
Volunteers are training a team of 15 dogs and 10 instructors for the research programme.

• Coronavirus sniffer dogs trial going 'very well'

The dogs can detect coronavirus in humans five days before they develop symptoms, Anna Hielm-Bjorkman, the University of Helsinki professor who is running the trial, told Reuters news agency.
"They are very good [at detecting coronavirus]. We come close to 100% sensitivity," she said.

 

[GusB]

The testing system is woefully inadequate.

I had one a few weeks ago, and it was a fairly painful process:

• Friday: I felt a bit iffy, but I'd been out the night before and I simply put it down to feeling hungover
• Saturday: Couldn't move, with some breathing difficulties. Made do with inhaler.
• Sunday: felt slightly better, but getting out of bed was a major effort. I decided to call and book a test, but was immediately directed to the gov.uk site to book one.
• Tuesday: Test kit "arrived". Except it didn't - the postie arrived earlier than expected, the box was too big to through the letterbox and it was taken to the village Post Office for collection. I called the Royal Mail automated system to arrange re-delivery.
• Thursday: Still no re-delivery. I send a message to my local Post Office to enquire whether the parcel was still there. They confirmed it was, and one of their staff was good enough to drop it round on her way home from work.
• Friday: I realised that the test kit had to go to a "priority postbox", rather than the one just around the corner. I still couldn't walk very far, so I had to book a collection. The earliest collection was Saturday
• Monday: I received a text message advising me that the test result was negative.

It seems to me that the weak link in the chain is the distribution of test kits. Why not have stocks kept locally and have them delivered by local couriers rather than having to rely on Royal Mail? I know a few taxi drivers who are desperate for as much work as they can get. Why did they put the test kits in massive Amazon delivery sleeves which don't fit through the average door when the actual box inside wasn't much bigger than a DVD case, and why insist on a signature from the postie when it could potentially put them at risk?

It was well over a week between me recognising that I had Covid symptoms and receiving my test result. As it was, I wasn't really well enough to be going out and about and I really did need the rest, but had my symptoms been much milder, I'd have been climbing the walls with boredom.

 

[Pete_uk]

My random test lit is awaiting its Monday morning use. Hope it goes well!

 

[Busaholic]

Mine was probably not typical, and the circumstances under which it was given, though by no means unique, won't probably apply to many here.

I was due to have a hospital operation in April, which never took place for obvious reasons. Out of the blue, a few days before the August Bank Holiday weekend, I received a telephone call from the hospital (a major one responsible for treating all Covid in-patients in my area). I was asked if I'd like to be booked in for the op on Friday Sept 4th. I almost bit their hand off, and was told the timetable.

Tues Sept 1st, go to test centre at local cricket club at 10.15 in car for test conducted by Devon and Cornwall Ambulance Service
Wed Sept 2nd, 16.15, receive tel call from Pre-Op re-asking all the questions I had answered back in March, info too old to reuse. assuming test result was negative
Fri Sept 4th report to hospital at 07.30 for day operation, with proviso that a one night stay might have to take place

At 10.00 on the Tues I drove up the narrow lane to the cricket club, where a sort of sentry box had been erected, and was beckoned forward by the Paramedic, a very friendly, experienced man who told me what was going to happen and that it wasn't very pleasant, but should be bearable. The throat swab took place first, and he had to make three or four attempts before he was successful on account of my involuntary reflex of trying to repel this foreign object. After that, the hard poke up the nose was a cinch, being not nearly as bad as I'd experienced a few months earlier when a surgeon had been taking a biopsy in the same spot. 10.07, drove away with the parting words ''no news is good news here, you'll only be contacted if you test positive''.

On the Wed aft duly got a hospital phone call, at the end of which the lady said 'we may not have got your result yet, I'll just check'' and then came back to say it had come in and was negative.

So that was my experience, and all had gone according to plan and handled efficiently and charmingly. The rest of it was rather at odds with that, my entry to hospital ending on a Friday evening all right, but exactly one week later, during which time I saw some of the very best (and caring) aspects of hospital NHS treatment, and some pretty shoddy stuff as well, but I choose not to focus on that.

Don't know whether any of that is of interest, but I hope so.

 

[Bantamzen]

Is the answer under our noses (well, not OUR noses...)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54288067 So security could have two dogs, Rover to sniff out drugs and Bessie to sniff out the covid! Would be a lot cheaper (and probably more accurate) then "Moonshot".

It would be great if this worked, making life for travellers so much easier. My only concern is do viruses actually have a detectable scent, or are they scenting chemicals or proteins produced as a result of the bodies response? But if it does prove to be successful I'd much rather have a dog give me a quick sniff than someone shoving a q-tip up my nose!

 

[Howardh]

It would be great if this worked, making life for travellers so much easier. My only concern is do viruses actually have a detectable scent, or are they scenting chemicals or proteins produced as a result of the bodies response?

It appears to be the latter, I read that it's the chanbe in the body's chemical make-up when infected that can be smelt. Apparantly cats are able to detect when their staff are ill, although unlike dogs they don't fret over it!

 

[Bantamzen]

It appears to be the latter, I read that it's the chanbe in the body's chemical make-up when infected that can be smelt. Apparantly cats are able to detect when their staff are ill, although unlike dogs they don't fret over it!

Oh, that's not as encouraging then as potentially they might pick up on immune responses to other similar viruses.

 

[yorkie]

Oh, that's not as encouraging then as potentially they might pick up on immune responses to other similar viruses.

Based on what I read a few months ago, any false positives would be other coronaviruses, but based on the latest reports, it sounds like the accuracy of detecting Sars-Cov-2 infections would be extremely high, so it sounds like it's not a problem.

Anyone who was falsely identified as positive by the sniffer dog, could still be tested using a PCR test, which would likely be negative (though again there are reports of some false positives and some of these could be other coronaviruses).

 

[martin2345uk]

I have to have one at work every week if I’m gonna be sharing a cab with someone. They’re finger prick tests that take 15 minutes and let’s just say I wouldn’t bet my house on their accuracy

 

[Howardh]

Based on what I read a few months ago, any false positives would be other coronaviruses, but based on the latest reports, it sounds like the accuracy of detecting Sars-Cov-2 infections would be extremely high, so it sounds like it's not a problem.

Anyone who was falsely identified as positive by the sniffer dog, could still be tested using a PCR test, which would likely be negative (though again there are reports of some false positives and some of these could be other coronaviruses).

I suppose drug-sniffing dogs at airports pick out the innocent false-positives (example, someone puts their bag on a chair previously used by a drugs-taker) but in the case of covid, a search wouldn't work! So if the dog picks you out, yes it may be correct but all would have to be tested in some way to make sure they aren't forced into isolation unnecessarily.
So if a dog picks out 100, and 90 have covid, they all would still have to be tested otherwise all 100 would have to isolate??

 

[yorkie]

I suppose drug-sniffing dogs at airports pick out the innocent false-positives (example, someone puts their bag on a chair previously used by a drugs-taker) but in the case of covid, a search wouldn't work! So if the dog picks you out, yes it may be correct but all would have to be tested in some way to make sure they aren't forced into isolation unnecessarily.
So if a dog picks out 100, and 90 have covid, they all would still have to be tested otherwise all 100 would have to isolate??

I doubt they would rely on sniffer dogs alone! Surely no-one is suggesting this?

 

[Howardh]

I doubt they would rely on sniffer dogs alone! Surely no-one is suggesting this?

Anything to get us back to normal!! Not wholly on dogs, but to pick out those that need testing...

'Any breed could do it': dogs might be a Covid tester's best friend

Researchers around the world are training canines to sniff out the virus – could they be deployed for mass testing?

www.theguardian.com

Around the world – from the UK to Finland, Spain, Brazil, Lebanon and Australia – teams of researchers are training dogs to sniff out Covid-19. And some say the idea of training hundreds of thousands of canine noses to check for coronavirus is not as far-fetched as it may sound.

How do dogs do it? At Finland’s Helsinki airport, where four Covid-19 sniffer dogs have begun work in a state-funded pilot scheme, passengers dab their skin with a wipe, which is placed in a beaker next to others containing control scents. If the dog detects the virus – shown by yelping, pawing, or lying down – the passenger takes a free swab test to verify its verdict.

 

[blackfive460]

It took a week from the time I requested a test for the (negative) results to arrive which made it useless.

It's not always like that.
Home test requested Sunday morning. Test kit arrived late Monday afternoon (delivered by Amazon). Test posted back Tuesday. Text message and email with result (negative) arrived Wednesday evening.
Getting the test ordered took some persistence but from then on I thought it was all pretty efficient, more so than I'd expected and I'm most definitely not a key worker!.

 

[david1212]

The testing system is woefully inadequate.

I had one a few weeks ago, and it was a fairly painful process:

• Friday: I felt a bit iffy, but I'd been out the night before and I simply put it down to feeling hungover
• Saturday: Couldn't move, with some breathing difficulties. Made do with inhaler.
• Sunday: felt slightly better, but getting out of bed was a major effort. I decided to call and book a test, but was immediately directed to the gov.uk site to book one.
• Tuesday: Test kit "arrived". Except it didn't - the postie arrived earlier than expected, the box was too big to through the letterbox and it was taken to the village Post Office for collection. I called the Royal Mail automated system to arrange re-delivery.
• Thursday: Still no re-delivery. I send a message to my local Post Office to enquire whether the parcel was still there. They confirmed it was, and one of their staff was good enough to drop it round on her way home from work.
• Friday: I realised that the test kit had to go to a "priority postbox", rather than the one just around the corner. I still couldn't walk very far, so I had to book a collection. The earliest collection was Saturday
• Monday: I received a text message advising me that the test result was negative.

It seems to me that the weak link in the chain is the distribution of test kits. Why not have stocks kept locally and have them delivered by local couriers rather than having to rely on Royal Mail? I know a few taxi drivers who are desperate for as much work as they can get. Why did they put the test kits in massive Amazon delivery sleeves which don't fit through the average door when the actual box inside wasn't much bigger than a DVD case, and why insist on a signature from the postie when it could potentially put them at risk?

It was well over a week between me recognising that I had Covid symptoms and receiving my test result. As it was, I wasn't really well enough to be going out and about and I really did need the rest, but had my symptoms been much milder, I'd have been climbing the walls with boredom.

Given Plusnet pack their internet routers so they will pass through most letter boxes packing these kits in a pack far larger than necessary just doesn't make sense not to mention wasteful of cardboard etc.

Maybe the signature, or at least proof of handover since in my home and work area you just verbally confirm receipt and the postie marks the machine, is to stop the kits getting ' intercepted ' in transit ? Are the contents already personalised or do you just complete the form / labels ? I do wonder though just as in this case how many deliveries and hence tests will be delayed.

Priority Postboxes are something new to me. Given now the latest posting time at many street boxes is 9am or 10am I can understand the idea of the kits for return to be into boxes outside Post Offices or Delivery Offices with collection times 5pm or later if possible again for a quicker return but for some just using the nearest box could be the fastest route back to the test lab.

 

[GusB]

Given Plusnet pack their internet routers so they will pass through most letter boxes packing these kits in a pack far larger than necessary just doesn't make sense not to mention wasteful of cardboard etc.

Maybe the signature, or at least proof of handover since in my home and work area you just verbally confirm receipt and the postie marks the machine, is to stop the kits getting ' intercepted ' in transit ? Are the contents already personalised or do you just complete the form / labels ? I do wonder though just as in this case how many deliveries and hence tests will be delayed.

Priority Postboxes are something new to me. Given now the latest posting time at many street boxes is 9am or 10am I can understand the idea of the kits for return to be into boxes outside Post Offices or Delivery Offices with collection times 5pm or later if possible again for a quicker return but for some just using the nearest box could be the fastest route back to the test lab.

The only part that was personalised was the address label on the outer packaging. The labels on the inside become personal when the test kit is either registered online or via the helpline. There's a unique barcode attached to the actual sample (the helpline adviser recorded this for me when I booked the collection), and another for tracking the return package.

With regard to the post boxes, it did seem a little bit silly as there are only two in the village and both are emptied by the same postie within a few minutes of eachother, but I appreciate that this may not be the case in other areas. I'm led to believe that test kits are sorted at the pick-up point, and I'd imagine the Royal Mail staff may have to wear PPE to do this. It's understandable, but frustrating nonetheless.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Can't see why you'd need PPE, as it's in an envelope. If it was considered that that would be contaminated enough to cause an issue it wouldn't be allowed in normal mail.

 

[mawallace]

Our post man says he has to wear PPE when he opens any box marked as Priority Postbox - I was told that if Royal Mail had staffing issues they would still collect from these nominated boxes

 

[david1212]

The only part that was personalised was the address label on the outer packaging. The labels on the inside become personal when the test kit is either registered online or via the helpline. There's a unique barcode attached to the actual sample (the helpline adviser recorded this for me when I booked the collection), and another for tracking the return package.

With regard to the post boxes, it did seem a little bit silly as there are only two in the village and both are emptied by the same postie within a few minutes of each other, but I appreciate that this may not be the case in other areas. I'm led to believe that test kits are sorted at the pick-up point, and I'd imagine the Royal Mail staff may have to wear PPE to do this. It's understandable, but frustrating nonetheless.

Given this and the shortage of test kits as I suspected the risk of ' interception ' .

Local to me a few years ago when Royal Mail were on a cost cutting drive most street boxes were changed to 9am as latest time for same day collection. I've no idea when collected but maybe during deliveries. The boxes outside Post Offices and Delivery Offices plus a few where Post Offices used to be are collected late afternoon. I must look if the box outside my local (sub) Post Office is now marked as priority.

My district council area has a population of around 125000 and the next council to the south around the same. The nearest drive-in centre, which also serves at city of around 400000 and areas north and east too, is 15 miles north. Unless opened very recently there are no local walk in centres, just two in the city. Hence for all who can not independantly get to the drive in centre a postal test is the only option.

Can't see why you'd need PPE, as it's in an envelope. If it was considered that that would be contaminated enough to cause an issue it wouldn't be allowed in normal mail.

The exact PPE is not defined here.

My thought is the package has been handled if not posted by a person who is potentially Covid-19 positive. Hence there could be Covid-19 both on the package and the post box. The logical PPE would be gloves. If a new set of disposable gloves for every postbox that is a huge quantity of gloves and plastic waste though.

 

[Yew]

My thought is the package has been handled if not posted by a person who is potentially Covid-19 positive. Hence there could be Covid-19 both on the package and the post box. The logical PPE would be gloves. If a new set of disposable gloves for every postbox that is a huge quantity of gloves and plastic waste though.

Are there any confirmed cases of postal workers being infected from packages? This obsession with assuming the worst at every turn is increasingly hypochondriac-al.

 

[Pete_uk]

Did my test this morning. A bit of difficulty with my tongue in the way and the nose bit wad, well funny. It's in the fridge wearing it's pick up

 

[brad465]

A big reason our testing is a mess compared to other countries, especially with regard to turnaround times, is because of the British exceptionalism that unfortunately is rife and the Government's belief that it wants to be the best at everything, not take the best solutions available elsewhere.

There are an endless list of examples in Government policy this mentality applies to, but testing is a significant one. This is why we don't have a rapid turnaround test like other European countries have, because the Government don't want to lose support at home by conceding to an EU devised solution, instead trying to muster up their own, which of course we're rubbish at doing. If we had accepted offers/orders for such tests when available we'd be in a much better place both with our testing programme and have much less restrictions as a result.