Local parent Gordon Nicol shares his experience of taking his family to be tested for Covid.
For anyone who is concerned about Covid tests and kids, I thought I’d share our experience with them. It definitely feels more daunting than it actually is. For context, we’ve been all under the weather since last weekend. Fever and fluey all round so we needed a Covid check. It’s all come back negative (although my wife needed two tests as the first one was inconclusive).
How did we book a Covid test?
The
website is very easy to use and while I was expecting a long wait for an appointment there were spots available for most hours in the day between 8am and 8pm so we got in straight away.
The Test and Trace centre is very easy to get to (the Drive through is at Temple Green Park and Ride just off junction 45 of the M1, and there is a Walk-in centre at Burmatoffs). We had to show the QR codes to someone at the entrance and were waved on through a chicane to the testing bays.
At the bay, they passed the test kits through the passenger window and waved us onto a parking space.
What was the Drive-Through Covid test like?
Now for the test itself. There are not many parts to it and it’s all explained in the pamphlet. You will need a second person to sit in the back of the car to perform the test on the little one (my wife drew the short straw for that one). Fair warning, the throat swab will make you gag and bring a sick bucket just in case for the little one. Also, be careful not to touch any other part of your mouth with the swab (I did and it was really simple to get another swab but meant I was throat swabbing twice). It was uncomfortable and our daughter wasn’t very impressed but handled it like a boss and was fairly content watching mickey mouse on my phone. The whole thing took about 20 minutes for all 3 of us to do. Someone visually checked them and we drove to the drop off point where QR code and receipt were checked again then the samples were put in a box. If you don’t have a car you can get the packs delivered and from what I hear they’re very quick to turn up.
How long did it take to get the Covid results?
As for turnaround of samples, it took about 36 hours for mine and my daughter’s results and we had to call them to check my wife after 48 hours (it then came back inconclusive so she needed to have another test). I received both an email and a text confirming the results.
All in all the from door to door it was about 30 minutes to get the test all done so can’t complain about that.
Tips for the kids
- Make sure they have something to focus on to take their mind off what’s going on.
- Have a sick bag on stand by.
- Have a second adult with you in the back with them or be prepared to parcour your way around the inside of your car.
- It’s going to upset them but it needs to be done.
