Went to drive-through lab for Coronavirus test, this is how it went
Writing this quickly/stream of thought just to get it out and share it with people. May miss some things, but hopefully this helps give people an idea of things.
High-level:
- Was in Toronto a couple weeks ago, YYZ was crowded, both my mom and me came back with colds but no fever and stuff, a couple doctor relatives suggested we go to the drive-through to get tested yesterday so we did.
- Assurance Labs’ website in Birmingham said they have the capacity to run upwards of 10,000 patient samples per week with room for increased volume, as needed. Though I think previously there were restrictions on who could get tested, that was lifted in the middle of the week so now anyone can get the test.
- Location: Assurance Labs has two locations open Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM (they were open today from 10 AM – 2 PM though): one on Acton Road and one in Bessemer. It took two hours of waiting at Acton Road, then we filled out paperwork + downloaded an app, then got tested. The test was $40. Though we didn’t pay at the drive-through, so I assume it’ll be charged at a later time or through insurance.
- The test itself: we remained in our car, a clinician came to our window, asked us why we were there, took our paperwork, and then did a nasal swab down one nostril for 5 seconds. You’ll cry out of that eye for a minute lol.
- Results: it’s Saturday afternoon right now after the lab has closed, but their website says patient samples will be processed and results available within 4 hours. The lab said we can expect to get our results early Monday morning. If negative, just a text or message in the app letting us know. If positive, they will let us know and come get us. I’m not sure what will happen at that point, but I just assume they’ll come get you and quarantine you ASAP.
- If you’re going to get tested, I would recommend bringing a book/have podcasts loaded, phone charger, food and snacks. Plan on this taking a total of 3-4 hours out of your day.
Longer:
I think we are all kind of uncertain right now and looking for guidance. I know even going into Friday that I didn’t think my mom or me needed to get tested because we’re fine and figured those tests needed to be saved for people connected to those previously exposed to the Coronavirus. I had a sinus infection after coming back from Toronto on 3/2, and my mom had a cold. Both of us went to the doctor this week and were both told we were fine. On Friday afternoon, a couple doctor cousins told me to go ahead and take my mom to the drive-through to get tested. I had seen news about the drive-through labs in Birmingham, looked into it, saw that they were doing 10,000 patient samples a week or more if needed, and felt ok about going to get the test.
We went to the Assurance Lab after work on Friday and it was closed. I didn’t see the hours on the website so didn’t realize it would be when deciding to head over there. I mention that because we checked the website incidentally again on Saturday morning at 11 AM, and they had a red banner saying they’d be open on Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM. So, off we went.
We got to the Acton Road lab around noon, but when we got there, there was a huge line of cars. The line of cars was two traffic lights long and bent around an intersection. So, I went to the light, took the left turn, made a U-turn, and got in line. The two-block line of traffic was taking so long that we had enough time to go into the Shell gas station, run to get some water and snacks, go to the bathroom, and come back to the car without having made it past the Shell. It was at this moment I was grateful for having Sirius XM because Phish radio was playing 11/22/97 and by the time the second set started and the show ended, we were getting our paper work (I was reminded how mind-blowing the transition from that Tweezer to Black Eyed Katy is).
Around that time, a news reporter shouted out to me asking if I’d be willing to do an interview. I was like, yeah man. He was like, well that was easy enough. I assume that right now there are a ton of people who hate the media, so people are taking it out on local journalists who are just trying to do their job and help. As someone who was a journalist in a previous life, please do not be a stupid asshole. You are giving a hard to time to someone who is trying to inform the public about what’s going on around them.
He put the camera over his right shoulder, walked up to the car, held the mic at a distance, and asked me a few questions: why I was there today, how long I was in line for, how I was feeling about the pandemic in general. My answers were pretty much: been traveling and wanted to be safe, been in line for 2 hours, and that I think we’ll all be fine but right now my concern is with healthcare workers and we need to stay at home/take care of us and our families and tough it out for 1-2 months so we can make their lives easier.
After the interview was done, a guy handed my mom and me paperwork (he handed it from a distance with a trash picker upper or something lol). There were instructions to text a number to be directed to download an app. We did that. Filled out the rest of the paperwork like consent and insurance. When we were done, we got to the point of the line where a clinician got our name, took a picture of our license and insurance, which was then uploaded into our profile on the app we’d just downloaded.
We were then directed to park our car, and we waited for I think about 15 minutes before someone came to knock on our window. Rolled down the window, he asked us why we were there, told him our reason, he took our paperwork and put it in our windshield. He then said, you’re going to hate me for about 5 seconds, I’m going to stick this swab up your nose. Lean back. I leaned back, in it went up my left nostril, he counted to 5, took it out, then I think he broke the swab in half and put it back in the capsule/bottle. I cried out of that eye for about a minute. He then did the same thing for my mom. Afterwards, he told us we could expect to get our results on early Monday morning. If we tested negative, we’d get a text or message through the app notifying us. If we tested positive, he said they’d come find us lol.
That was it! I’m sure we’ll both be fine, and now we wait until Monday for our results.