Two of my sisters underwent coronavirus tests last week and now kindly share their experiences. Many of us are likely to be undertaking these tests over the next few weeks and months, so please share with anyone who you think may find this helpful.
What is the Coronavirus test?
This information relates to the coronavirus test (the antigen test), which is the one you need if you think you may have the virus.
An antibody test will be available shortly and this is the one if you think you have had the virus, to test if you have developed antibodies that may help protect you from a future infection.
If you need medical advice about your symptoms:
England: NHS 111 online coronavirus service
Scotland: NHS inform
Wales: NHS Direct Wales
Northern Ireland: get advice from a GP or GP out-of-hours service
If you are caring for someone with Covid19 there are many things you can do to help them.
Important
Please help the NHS and only ask for a test if you or someone you live with has symptoms now.
When to ask for a test
- You need to have the test in the first 5 days of having symptoms.
- It’s best to ask for the test in the first 3 days, as it may take a day or two to arrange.
- Sometimes people sent invites specifically as part of research (as was the case with my sisters).
Who can ask for a test?
You can ask for a test:
- for yourself, if you have coronavirus symptoms now (a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste)
- for someone you live with, if they are experiencing coronavirus symptoms
This service is for people in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
People in Wales can ask for a home test kit here. For drive-through appointments at regional test sites in Wales, go to the coronavirus test bookings and process on the Welsh Government website.
The tests are not suitable for children under 5 years old. If you’re asking for a test for someone else and the person is age 13 or over, check they’re happy for you to ask for a test for them.
Click here for an Emergency First Aid at work course with Covid-19 updates
At home or at a testing centre?
One sister had a coronavirus home test. She recorded the whole experience, from watching the Government video to sampling and to the follow up survey. I hope this is helpful and reassuring for people wanting to know what to expect.
One of my other sisters, Lis, went to the drive-in centre at Edgbaston cricket club. Her experience could not have been easier. She made a booking through the .gov website and took the necessary questionnaire, which was a quick and easy process. All done within 5 minutes. She chose a slot for the following morning (there was lots of availability). She and her husband drove to the cricket club – they needed ID and the bar code from the email. They drove straight in (no queue) and the test took 2 to 3 minutes. It wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t painful. The medical staff took the swabs and they drove home through the one-way system.
All efficiently organised through a one-way system army… and she received her results just over 48 hours later.
Below is a diary entry of Charlotte’s experience of the coronavirus home test, in her own words:
Preparation
“Out of the blue a letter arrived (from DHSC, Imperial college London, NHS and Ipsos MORI) telling me I had been randomly chosen for a research project about coronavirus. I had to register online to agree to take part and a week later a package arrived with my Home Testing kit.
The kit has about 8 components and is a bit daunting at first but there is a clear instruction booklet. The instructions cover self-administering of the test or what to do if you need to take a sample for a child or another person. Before you do the test you need to book a courier slot for collection of your sample. The sample must be ready before 9am on the day that the courier is coming. On Saturday I booked my slot online and was told that they would pick up the sample sometime the next day. There is no charge for the service. On the Sunday morning, there was a two hour window in which the Yodel collection would take place.
Meanwhile, I was watched a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lo6g-TYZ-c which talks you through each step of the test. This was very clear and I found it helpful to take some notes so I could remind myself of exactly what to do at each step.
On Sunday morning I duly set an alarm to make sure I was awake and ready. They recommend you do the test between 7-8am. I reminded myself of what I had to do by watching the video again. I laid everything ready on a clean surface, gently blew my nose and coughed as suggested and then went to wash my hands for the prescribed 20 seconds.
Interested in an Emergency First Aid at work course with Covid-19 updates? Click here
Swabbing
It was easy to open the swab packet at the stick end. Armed with a mirror I set about trying to rub the swab over both tonsils and the back of my throat for the suggested 10 seconds, taking care NOT to touch my tongue, teeth or gums. This was easier said than done! I had established where my tonsils were but they were very hard to get to right at the back of my throat as my tongue seemed to be in the way. I pushed the swab right to the back of my mouth but had to have several attempts as my gagging reflex was kicking in. By now my eyes were watering too. I’m sure I didn’t manage 10 seconds and think the swab may have touched my tongue once but I did my best. I must confess it was not a very pleasant or comfortable experience.
So, armed with the same swab, I then set about sticking it up each nostril in turn, rotating for several seconds. I’m pretty sure it was not for the 10-15 seconds recommended. That is a long time to twizzle a stick right up your nose!!
Then all I had to do was to insert the swab into the plastic vial and break off the stick in the middle. Screw the top of the vial on securely, add the reference label and wash my hands again. I then put the vial into the plastic biohazard bag and worked out how to peel off the sticky label, seal securely and add another of the reference labels. Then I had to make up the cardboard posting box and close it using the security seal. This box was put in the fridge to await collection.
Questionaire
After all that I went online to complete a questionnaire. This was very involved and asked quite diverse questions including whether I had experienced any of a range of symptoms since November 2019. I was actually quite glad to have the opportunity of recording my symptoms from the middle of March when I am fairly sure I had Covid-19. It also asked how many people I had been in contact with in the last week both virtually and in person, with or without social distancing. I needed to try to identify them by age band.
This whole process had taken over an hour. I felt a bit of discomfort at the back of my throat and I was more than ready to return to bed with a cup of tea.”
To complete the process, this is the email she received containing the results of the test:
NHS COVID-19 Notification:
Your Covid-19 test has come back NEGATIVE. You don’t have the virus at this time.
You can stop self-isolating. Return to work if you haven’t had a fever for 48 hours and feel well. Contact your employer before returning to work.
If someone in your household tested positive and you had no symptoms on day of testing, you must self-isolate for 14 days from the onset of the first person’s symptoms, or 7 days if you did have symptoms on day of testing.
Care home residents with persistent symptoms need an assessment by their healthcare provider, as a they may require a repeat test. Please follow specific advice for care homes.
For further advice go to https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus. If you have symptoms and your condition gets worse, go to NHS 111 online, call 111, or dial 999 in an emergency.
Further reading and support
We have a wealth of articles on coronavirus which can be found at firstaidforlife.org.uk and onlinefirstaid.com. If you want to ask any questions and share stories, don’t hesitate in joining our Stay Safe Facebook community group.
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You can attend a fully regulated Practical or Online First Aid course to understand what to do in a medical emergency. Please visit https://firstaidforlife.org.uk or call 0208 675 4036 for more information about our courses.
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I too got a letter from Imperial College and agreed to take the test. I found it funny that we share the same experience having to set an alarm and wake up at 7 to do the test since the window time is from 8am to 6 pm. Like you, I found the throat part rather difficult because when i gagged, my tongue did an involuntary movement and touched the tip. I was in shocked when it happened but kept doing it and gagging. Sticking the stick in the nose is easier, however I personally think someone who is professional in doing these swabs should administer it, rather than me cause I highly doubt if I did the procedure right.
When i went online on to answer the questionnaire, I was not able to access it. There is a notification that said “ Thank you for your interest in taking part. This survey will open on 18 September at 3 pm.” which i thought was ridiculous and so i was not able to do it.
I too was selected to do the test by Imperial College, same instructions. Like previous writers I experienced the severe gagging reflex which almost brought me to the point of vomiting. I know I was not able to do the required number of swipes across the back of the throat and despite best efforts think I may have touched the tongue also. I decided to move on to the nose, expecting it to be the easier task. I was not prepared for the violent sneezing which resulted and again I feel the test was not completed successfully. Despite submitting what was almost certainly an invalid test, the result came back negative. However the experience was so traumatic that it has left me with a phobia and, although I have two overseas holidays booked, (deferred from last year) I fear that the requirement to do PCR tests, despite my being fully vaccinated, will mean I have to cancel: I really cannot willingly put myself through that trauma again.
I also gagged to the point of vomiting. I even started gagging when I put the stick in my nose. The result was negative but I know I didn’t do the throat or the nose test for anywhere near long enough. If somebody else were to do it, I think it would be much better. But who can I ask – my doctor, my surgery, a clinic, A&E? Not doing it puts my life in danger and those of everyone I meet but I’ve become phobic and now just thinking about it makes me gag.
I too took part in the Ipsosmori trials but mine was back in October 2020. I have an exceptionally good gag reflex and on getting near to my right tonsil,promptly vomitted. That’s been my issue every time I’ve done the throat swab. I still take part in studies including the Zoe covid one on a daily basis. I had a negative test result and have gone on to have a further four negative ones. I’m assuming if you cannot get enough ‘material’ from the back of your throat that the tests could easily return a negative result? I’ve persevered and manage now not to vomit but I still cannot stop myself gagging so violently that my tongue does touch the swab and the involuntary movement of my tongue pushes the swab up to touch the roof of my mouth. I’ve had ‘prefessionals’ perform the tests and my gag reflex is the same as is that movement of my tongue which I cannot prevent as it’s a reflex. A Dr has told me,if you can’t swab your throat then you should do both nostrils. Although not especially pleasing it’s doable and I’m now going to do that in preference to being left with a scratched sore throat. I’m also now doing the twice weekly swabbing as well as having had both my jabs.
Sorry these tests are a waste of money, They need to find another way . The back of your throat is impossible ,, how could they have invented these tests without asking people to do it, what a shame, and why did people not say, sorry its not doa
ble, they would then not made these expensive kits,
Or why not make it clear you WILL need help from another person to do a home test?
Did my little sister and she puked all over me.
Sarah I’m so sorry that happened, but it did make me laugh out loud! I have had the same experiences as all others here with attempts to swab the tonsils, also appear to have only one tonsil haha! And tongues do all feel large when you see them close up. The person claiming to have a ‘good’ gagging reflex I felt probably may not know what is good and what is bad in that sense, but I’m confident that a majority have great difficulty with these procedures via the back of the throat especially, and that the discomfort has been toned down to encourage testing. But if the procedures we are told to do are so uncomfortable that we do not achieve them entirely correctly as asked, we’re left with the same anxieties, am I negative truly or did i not capture the virus that is there. I’ve just performed a lateral flow, and will check my result live now here! Well only one red line visible, faint or otherwise, so negative, but am i??? Stay safe everyone, best wishes Sarah and a merry Christmas to all.
I swabbed my throat and nose with the saline sample by mistake is this dangerous to me what should I do?
Try as I may. I cannot reach the back of my throat without gagging. I am also hampered by my tongue which seems to be large. Any test taken I am sure are incorrect. The nasal swab is slightly easier. Perhaps a blood test similar to diabetic testing could resolve this issue.
The new lateral flow tests do not require you to swab your throat, just your nose
I had all the same gagging and tongue touching issues as everyone above. I wasn’t even put off by the slightly unpleasant feeling or in trepidation at all. It was just an involuntary raising of the tongue, often even when not gagging. So my tongue touched the swab several times. I’m really surprised this isn’t a well known issue and therefore addressed.
As a child, my doctor would stick a wide wooden ‘ice lolly’ stick down my throat to the back of my tongue and pressed it down. Then he proceeded to examine my tonsils (I had minor issues with them). The tongue rising was stopped either by the force or maybe some quelling of the nerve. The stick was less unpleasant than the touching of the tonsils. So why don’t they just get trained experts to use these ‘lolly sticks’ while taking the tonsil sample. It’s just a waste of time and money as things stand. Really disappointed. Since I’m the 11th commenter in a row with the same problem, I fear this problem has been suppressed to get more people testing.
I’ve found all these comments interesting, I do test regularly but only using the nasal swabs, like a lot of people on here the thought of putting the swab to the back of my throat makes me feel sick, I also think it should be done by another person, so for now it’s the nasal only ones for me. It does make me feel better knowing I’m not the only one who feels like this