On Monday, May 18th, 2020 I saw an announcement from San Mateo County and Project Baseline (PB) that free COVID19 testing was opening up in my county. So of course, being a good citizen-scientist, I signed up. Plus, I wanted testing. Plus, I eventually wanted access to antibody testing. Yes, I had to give PB some personal medical information, but nothing that probably isn't already publicly available. I mean, my height and weight are on my driver's license. Here are the states where Project Baseline testing is available:
Free COVID-19 testing is open in select states:
CA, CT, DE, ID, MA, MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA and VA, and we are continuing to expand.
The first available convenient appointment was Wednesday, May 20th, at 11 pam in Daily City, which is about a 30 minute drive from my house. I arrived at the testing location (buildings that belong to Jefferson Union High School District) to an almost-empty parking lot. The first stop was a sheriff's officer, who asked me (through my rolled-up window) if I had an appointment. I indicated I did, so he waved me, still in my car, to the next stop, which was a gloved, gowned, and masked man who asked me to put my driver's license up to the window, so he could sort me into the correct line.
And this is where I discovered something, or had something brought to mind: I have a danged hard time understanding people when they are wearing masks and talking to me through my closed car window. (To-do list: referral to audiologist please).
At the next station, two other masked, gowned, and gloved women looked at my driver's license through the car window, retrieved an already-labeled plastic envelope, and tucked it under the car's windshield wiper, and directed me to the correct line for a pair of tents (I wasn't allowed to take pictures or video.) Then there was a little bit (less than 5 minutes) delay. I think they had just opened up, and were working out the logistics of where to put directional and stop signs for optimal processing of cars. Well, people in cars. So, some rearrangement of signage.
Finally, it was my turn. I pulled up to see a woman in mask, face shield, and one of those disposable yellow gowns. She smiled, gestured theatrically (a nice touch) to a DON'T IDLE--TURN OFF YOUR CAR sign, and turned to the table to don a fresh pair of gloves. She retrieved the plastic envelope from the car windshield and put it on the table. Turning back to me with a vial and a swab, she then told me her first name, that she was a nurse, and that this test would be a self-administered swab.
I already had a plastic bag open on my lap (in case it was a nasopharyngeal swab, and I gagged and vomited), so I was relieved.>
I could hear her clearly through the closed window, so the engine noise might have been part of the problem. I think she asked me if I still wanted to continue with the testing -- I said yes, of course. Then she described how to do the test. I was to "take the swab, stick it up my nose until I hit resistance, twirl it around 10 times, and then repeat (10 twirls) on the other side." I asked, "both nostrils?" and she said yes. She also said the swab makes some people cough or sneeze; it I did to turn my head into my car. Then she asked me to crack the window, and poked the vial in so I could grab it, and had me grab the swab from the sterile packaging. It looked kind of like this.
A teeny little stalk and a fuzzy head, MUCH smaller than a Q-tip. I did as instructed. Scraping around the inside of my nose made my eyes water, but not profusely, and there was a residual unpleasant sensation that persisted for about 15 minutes.
Anyway, swab twirling on both sides accomplished, I opened the vial, dropped the swab in, fuzzy end first, and secured the top. I cracked my window again, handed the vial to the nurse, who placed it in the plastic specimen envelope. We wished each other good day, and I was on my way.
From turning off my engine to restarting was less than 10 minutes (I should have started my stopwatch....) and may have been less than 5 minutes.
By the time I got back to my house, I'd had an email from Project Baseline:
So, by Tuesday May 26th at the latest, I'll know if I am currently infected with SARS-COV-2, or not. I predict not. Check back in a couple of days, I'll update on the next step.
Update #1:evidently there's some confusion about the test offered. Here's a visual
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