I’m standing at the entrance of a Covid-19 testing unit for a major Sydney hospital, being quizzed by a nurse about my symptoms.
“I’m sorry,”, she says. “I’ve had a lot of people lying to me to try to get tested. I have to be careful.”
It soon becomes clear that I meet the criteria for testing for coronavirus and I’m given a sticker with a number on it.
I join a quiet room full of people, each with a mask and a sticker. Staff members, wearing protective gloves, gowns, face masks and eye covering, are coming around to get each person’s details. Next, your “vital signs” – that is your heart and breathing rate, temperature, oxygenation and blood pressure – are recorded.
The woman sitting next to me sniffs loudly, then sneezes, and I shift uncomfortably in my chair. Being in a room full of people who all certainly have viruses and may possibly have Covid-19, is not relaxing. I think about how many items of my clothing, my bag and my umbrella are touching the area around me, and I wonder idly about how long the virus lasts on surfaces and if it can transfer from surface to surface.
Suddenly, the explosive cough that has been surprising me all week bursts once again from my mouth. My neighbour who sneezed earlier startles and shifts away from me in her chair. I don’t blame her. We are close together and I could feel my breath forcefully pushing out the sides of my mask.
After half an hour we are moved to a different set of chairs, waiting to move through to the testing area.
At this point I realise I am one of the lucky ones. By now the line outside the clinic is snaking around the corner. As each new person gets to the front, they are imploring the nurse to let them in.
“But my friend was travelling and she is sick!”
“I’ve been living in a hotel and I don’t know who was there!”
Many respond with anger when she advises them they don’t meet guidelines for testing, that they should go home, self-isolate until their symptoms subside or they are advised otherwise. That they are better off not sitting in a room surrounded by sick people for two hours.
“Are you seriously telling me you don’t care about this??!” one man exclaims.
“But my work says I need a certificate to come in,” begs another.
Most are scared. They want to get tested because they want reassurance in what is frankly a confusing, unsettling time.
Ideally we would test people as widely as possible, but at the moment Australia is one of many countries affected by a worldwide shortage of testing kits. There is a real opportunity cost to testing people who don’t meet the criteria. In some labs they are being forced to delay or stop other important tests because they simply don’t have the resources to meet demand.
When it’s finally time to be tested, my details and symptoms are recorded again by another gowned staff member before I’m taken into a testing room. One swab (which looks like a giant cotton bud) is held at a right angle to my head and pushed inside my nostril, further back than it seems possible to go. It feels scratchy and sore just above my throat. Then the same swab is used again in the other side, before being placed in a bag and sent off. The whole thing takes only a couple of minutes but consumes a large amount of staff time and personal protective equipment.
Afterwards, my throat and nose are sore. And I feel oddly marked. Like somehow just by virtue of taking the test my status as a potential carrier has changed.
But the truth is, the test doesn’t change anything.
So if you don’t meet the criteria for testing right now, don’t panic.
There is still so much you can do. If you are worried you have coronavirus, you should act as if you do have it. Self-isolate. Be meticulous with hand-washing. Having a positive test won’t get you any better treatment in any way.
If you or someone you employ has viral symptoms, now is the time for you to show moral leadership. Don’t turn up at these overrun testing centres unless you meet the testing criteria for your state. Don’t require your employees to be tested or get a medical certificate. Just let them stay at home.
Two hours in a testing centre and an uncomfortable swab up the nose won’t change anything. If you become very unwell you will be managed the same way, and you will be tested anyway. Even without the tests, we can all make a difference now.
State Covid-19 testing information
New South Wales: Covid-19 criteria and advice for healthcare workers
The author is a healthcare worker in NSW who was tested for Covid-19
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