Our county is offering free CoronaVirus diagnostic tests to any resident.  All you have to do is call – yep, you have to actually call them – and make an appointment.  It will only tell you if you have the virus currently in your nose/throat – depending on which test is administered.  They make sure you know this many times!

When we called to make the appointment, they first ask if you have symptoms.  If you have any, you get moved to the front of the line, usually tested the same day.  We called last Friday and got our appointment for Tuesday.

So on Tuesday, we took a drive to the testing parking lot.  When we finally figured out how to access the parking lot, John rolled down his window to talk to the first person we encounter.  She was kinda rude about telling him to roll up his window.  They tell you to place your government ID on the dash.  They check it and find your “medical file” and place it under the wiper blades.

We then proceeded to the next stop – that person rechecks your ID and makes sure the medical file/paper matches.

Third stop is for the actual test.  The nurse rechecks everything and then has you roll down your window for the test.  We got the throat (oropharyngeal) test.  It was kinda uncomfortable!  Imagine gargling and having someone jab your tonsils at the same time.  Yep, that’s what they do!

There have been minimal studies done comparing the accuracy of the throat test versus the nasal test.  Both can yield false positive and false negative results.  Preliminary studies are very limited.  It seems like the throat test yields more false negative results than the nasal test as more time passes after infection.  More studies definitely need to be completed.

We got the robo-phone call this morning saying we are CoronaVirus negative.  Knowing the testing limitation possibility, we are assuming it is accurate but what if it isn’t?

• We don’t think we’ve had COVID but the weird dizzy/fatigue issue could have been a mild infection weeks ago.  No way to know unless we have the antibody blood test.
• We don’t think we are asymptomatic spreaders of the virus if we cough, but what about sneezing?

How much longer are we going to have to maintain Stay-at-Home?  We are both “older” with other conditions that increase our risk of complications.

How much longer are we going to have to wear masks?  Our county still has a mandatory order.

Any one else have the screening test without symptoms?