Having a covid test

.Liverpool started to test people with or without symptoms. Caught lot of people who had no symptoms but were positive. They rolled it out across Merseyside. I went for a test before Christmas. I could have walked in but booked it as didn't know how long I would have to wait. It was all very well organised. Directed where to go checked in with code on my phone. Shown to a cubicle. The helper talked me through how to do the test. There was a mirror so I could see to get right back to my tonsils . 10 secs each one 10 secs up nostril. Everything well run. Had the result via email next day. People say it shows positive if you have a cold it doesn't. I had a cold when tested. Came back negative.

Having a Covid test is no hardship. We have blood tests no one makes a fuss about that. Been having a mammogram every 3 years since I was 50 and bowel cancer test from 60 every 2 years. Just had notification my kit will be sent in 2 weeks. My second one as I am 62.

We should be happy we can get tested . People all over the world can't or they have to pay. We are lucky in this country. It's not perfect but no system is. Be glad we have the NHS.

Locally there is what they call a walk in centre. You park up and go in. They give you the test thing and you do it yourself but they explain what to do and stand at a respectful distance while you gag!!

Our bodies are full of viruses and germs that are kept in check in a healthy body. If our immune system gets weaker, one of those viruses can make you sick. So, despite all the precautions of hand washing etc. we can still get a cold or other 'bug'.

Our council publishes operating times and addresses each week of the test centres

I have no idea where the local drive in centre is, though I live seven miles from a largish market town in Suffolk. I no longer drive anyway and have no relations locally. I am 83 and have heard absolutely nothing from the local surgery in my village. Where are these " local drive in centres"?

Good luck everyone who thinks they may have covid . All that testing sounds horrible. I'm trying to keep as far away from other people for as long as I can...........! My sister is really ill, having come down with Covid on Boxing day. Her husband was admitted to hospital on xmas day with it (think he picked it up in hospital, as he has vascular dementia and often has to go to hospital for tests etc). This new variant is obviously very catching.

Caro57- you are lucky in that sense then as everyone else seems to have been handed a kit& expected to get on with it! How does it work with the 'instant test' then? Would not 'someone else' (a tester/medical professional?) be better doing that one, so they can read result?

So misleading about getting test done- whenever it 'shows' them at test centres on tv they DO indeed show the people in hazmat suits reaching in at car windows with a little stick in their hand as though they are performing the tests for us- but no my DD (eldest) says that they went in their car (as their youngest had sniffles from school) and yes they do just shove the test box at you & expect you to get on with it!(they were all negative thank God & we havent been near them at all anyway) My eldest son said same, he & his wife had to twist round in car to try do test on screaming little baby & 7yr old whilst helping older 2 (13&15) to do theirs properly as well do their own! Its ridiculous! At least the tests may be not false if they were able to be administered correctly by a professional.(not so lucky in sons case, all except him tested positive & had to isolate 2 weeks) & he had to isolate but continue re-testing himself. (We had not seen them at all either as they dont live where we do).Its just as well staying in and getting one posted out to you.But what about the 'new' quick tests- do others perform those, or do we have to do our own for them as well??

Apart from the ‘instant result’ kit all my tests have been done by someone other than me

The Covid test is, at best, like an MOT, you can only really rely on it at the moment it is done but, even then, you are relying on the tester's observation skills and subjectivity. Then, on top of that, there is the window when people might have been exposed but their systems aren't showing the virus where the tests are being done, in the throat and nose. Some people will have had the virus for longer than they realise and may have got to the point where they aren't shedding it but the DNA is still there so they show up as Positive. All in all it is a minefield which means we have to be more vigilant than just relying on tests.

Sorry that should read “pre-operation” not pretty!

I have had 4 tests so far ... 2 we’re pretty operation tests both at regional testing centre where the test are done for you through the car window the other 2 I was contacted and asked to take part in survey and anyone from my household could join me. We went to another testing centre where we were given a testing kit and asked to park further on and do the tests ourselves. Found putting the swab down your own throat without gagging difficult to do as it is best to concentrate on your breathing, the nose swabbing is easy. The next one was at another regional testing centre and as we drove in they gave us a choice on DIY or someone else do it, we chose someone else’s fit was much easier. I was worried the one we did on ourselves was not done properly and may have given a false result. All 4 came back negative.

My daughter was feeling really ill just before Christmas and went for a test which came back negative. fortunately, because she was feeling so poorly she cancelled having her father who is in their bubble for Christmas day. As she continued to feel really ill she had another test which came back positive. She had suspected this all along. Apparently up to 20% of all negative tests are false negatives. Beware. This is all the more unfortunate as she has an underlying medical condition which makes her very vulnerable.

Another bit of anecdote.

Just come in from garden picking lettuce and my neighbour wished me Happy New Year from her window.

They decided not to go to London to see their family over Christmas, which appears to have been a family gathering.

Every single member has now got covid.

The new strain must be incredibly brilliant at infecting people, no wonder the government and NHS are panicking.

I thought that it was like a pregnancy test - you could test negative but still be positive, but you couldnt test positive and actually be negative?

In the summer, our local paper reported 'new case in this area'. Then we were told it wasn't really a case, along with a confusing 'explanation' of why a person may test positive then negative because they don't really have covid.

They were doing community testing here for asymptomatic people. Had no symptoms but a bit of a sore throat, and had followed all guidelines but thought I’d go just to be on the safe side. Shock horror an hour later I was told it was positive!!was advised to go for another test the same day. Exactly same test same procedures and got negative result 24hours later. Which one do I believe? Have no symptoms so happy with the negative-but now there is a positive result in the statistics. How many of these in the daily figures I wonder.

If I felt unwell at all then i think i would self isolate for a couple of weeks anyway reguardless of result..

I was tested on 22 December - still have no result!! As it happens my initial symptoms cleared up very quickly but I am still none the wiser as to whether they were caused by Covid. I was under the impression that the test and trace system had improved but my experience certainly doesn’t bear that out.

We have been part of the ONS survey for months and regularly get tested at home. We are given the equipment to do it ourselves and the surveyor asks us lots of questions each time. It forms part of the results they show on the gov.uk site and tv press calls. I just don’t understand the people who either disbelieve it’s real or think they are immune. One of our good friends is fighting for his life in hospital. Perhaps a disbeliever would like to swap places with him!

I’d be very cross too. No wonder it keeps spreading so quickly. Not only do they have it but have probably infected others who have been far more cautious. Plus costing the nhs for the tests and maybe further treatment. No thought for others!

I’ve done a couple of self service tests now at the local drive through testing centre. We have to book but, being in a pretty rural area, we can go online to book and be there half an hour later. I found it all straightforward and the staff were very helpful. My main worry was that I wouldn’t hold the swab in the right place for long enough but the advisor said that as long as you are in the right general area it will pick up enough to do the test. Thankfully I’ve been negative twice and have also had to isolate twice - including all over Christmas.

This is pure gossip, but I’m quite cross with a neighbour.

They have always been extraordinarily social people, and it was obvious that they were going to struggle over the Christmas period in particular.

Well, they didn’t struggle very hard!

They picked mum up from Kent, one of the highest rates in the country, spending a couple of days there when doing so. They then saw their family of 9 children and grandchildren over Christmas.

Every single one of them had now been tested positive for covid.

I fervently hope that they didn’t spread it when going shopping, stopping to talk to neighbours, friends etc, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

I feel very cross! Hope they recover ok though, they are lovely people.

Sounds like my daughter - feeling generally unwell at christmas but negative test. I sympathise with the test paraphernalia as I did a survey one at home, and it was complicated enough in the quiet of my own home

We hold too much faith in the Covid tests. Not only were they not designed to test for Covid-19, but they can be inaccurate and lead to false confidence. On the day and precise moment in time you take the test, you may well test negative and then pop to the supermarket on your way home and pick up Covid. So 24-48 hours later when you receive your negative test result, you trot off to see your friends/relatives believing you are Covid free, but in fact you could now be harbouring the virus after the supermarket visit. It is also known that there are numerous false positive results, so whilst I don’t mean to scaremonger, but merely to point out the obvious, I am trying to remind people ‘hands, face, space’ and if we don’t start to take this seriously, we will be living in hope for some time to come. I have watched my middle class, sensible neighbours all see their loved ones over Christmas/New Year despite being in Tier 4 and mixing with at least 3 other households. I’m exasperated with these Covidiots and want to ask them if they are immune and what is their secret if they are!