TEST IS EASY SNEEZY

INSIDE A COVID CHECK-UP

FOR weeks doctors have urged people not to dismiss symptoms and get tested.

Not just for ourselves, but for the good of others.

So when my sniffle and cough arrived, I signed for a swab. I even felt a bit patriotic, digging my Medicare card out of the bottom of god knows which bag I left it in.

The online booking at one of the Gold Coast’s four respiratory clinics was like any appointment execpt for extra COVID specific forms.

On arrival, patients to the Hope Island Clinic are greeted with a large sign that asks them not to enter, but call reception. Patients are told to sit back in their car until they are called to enter when a doctor is free.

When it comes, you are handed a mask and sanitiser by a staffer acting as the quasi-doorman clad in pandemic garb.

Disappointed my homemade Superman mask did not cut it, I swap to the medical variety. I’m shuffled forward and exiting patients are guided out so we do not get too close.

Inside, the waiting room is stripped bare, save for a single plastic chair in the middle. A perspex wall separates staff behind the counter from the public.

From there, a doctor in full safety get-up ushers patients into a consult room.

“You can sit, I cleaned the chairs, they are safe enough to eat off,” he declares.

I resist the urge to whip out a sandwich and sit down. After a quick temperature test comes the dreaded swab. The swab itself looks like a 15cmlong stick with a cotton budtype brush at the end.

After a quick wipe of the back of my throat, it goes up my nose. As a woman in my mid-20s, I have endured many not-so-comfortable check-ups, so this didn’t even rate in my top 10.

Truly, it is not as terrible as I had heard. Instead it was quick and pain-free. A similar sensation to the weird moment before a sneeze, only this lasts longer. Although it did bring water to the eyes.

That was it. No need to pay, all done in 20 minutes.

Time to wait for the test results and self-isolate.

It was tough, but I made sure to skip the Maccas drive through on the way home. Another patriotic decision I thought.

I’m fortunate to have sick leave and be able to work at home. Isolation rules are far more difficult for those in casual roles. Just over 24 hours later my results come back via text at 7pm, although the wait can vary. A colleague who was tested on the same day is still waiting, more than 72 hours down the track.

I’m certified all clear, for those wondering.

The sniffles and cough have gone on holiday too. Outstayed their welcome.

If they call again I am happy to revisit the testing process. So should you.