Cork

After a seven day wait, I have finally been tested, and what a weight off my shoulders it has been! I don’t know why it’s such a weight off my shoulders, because it doesn’t really change anything, but it’s good to get it over with, nonetheless.

The text notifying me of my appointment came in while I was still in bed this morning. Then, about two hours before my appointment time, a woman rang me to confirm my doctors name, address and telephone number. She also wished me luck! I left the house about an hour before my appointment, to make sure I was there on time.

In one way, it was nice to have a reason to drive somewhere, as I have only left the house once since I was asked to self-isolate exactly a week ago (to drive Peter to Tesco a few days ago). It was interesting to get out to see our changed world. There weren’t too many people out, and even on St Patrick’s Street, the main street in Cork, I didn’t really see people going within the recommended two metres of each other. Lots of people were wearing face masks though, and I even saw an elderly man wearing one while driving in his car.

When I got to the testing centre at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a man at the main entrance on the road checked my appointment time and handed me an information leaflet. I then parked in the stadium grounds and we were instructed to move our car along in the queue every so often. We weren’t allowed to put our car window down at all, so all instructions were given through the closed window.

When my turn came, I started feeling a bit nervous. Part of this was because I had started thinking about the chance of contracting the virus at the test centre (which I hope is low)! But part of my nervousness also stemmed from the very unfamiliar setting that I found myself in. It felt like I’d been dropped on an alien planet, seeing all these human-shaped beings dressed in full protective clothing. I’ve been in unfamiliar settings before, but this was off the scale and it was difficult for my mind to process. I’ve never felt anything like it before!

A man checked my name on the list, then I drove on to a woman who put a sheet of paper containing my details under the wiper of my windscreen. After this, I was beckoned forward, and I drove past a few testing stations to the first empty one. Each station had two people at it, and all of them seemed to be women, from what I could see.

When I stopped at the test station, I was asked to open my window a tiny bit. I couldn’t figure out how to open the car’s electronic window to just a small opening, but after a few seconds of me madly putting it up and down, I finally had it open slightly! The woman passed a face mask in through the window and asked me to put it on. Then, she passed some hand sanitiser through, which I used on my hands. Between each interaction, I had to shut my window again. The third time she spoke to me was to pass a tissue and a little kit to me. The kit contained a face mask for at home and a black bin liner to put the discarded face mask and tissue from the test in. I was asked to close the window and blow my nose. When I opened the window again, the second woman had appeared and she asked me to look ahead while she swabbed. The throat swab was mildly unpleasant. The nose swab was awful!! She stuck the swab up as far as it would go into my nose. I felt a sharp pain, then I could hear a squelching sound deep in my head. I honestly thought that she was doing it wrong and that she was somehow digging the swab into my brain! I winced and could help myself letting out a little moan. It was over as soon as it started though, and I put the window back up. My eye was watering and my nose was running, but there was nothing that the women could do for me as I had to stay closed behind the car window. It’s weird having to resist the normal human interactions that would happen in a given situation. I could tell that these were kind women, even behind their protective outfits. It felt kind of like we were all fighting the instinct to interact normally. It certainly felt strange to be treated as someone dangerous, that could pass on the infection, but that’s how everyone at the centre has to treat you. They’re all on the alert in case you open your window too much. I did manage to say a quick “thank you for your work” before my window closed, but that was the only informal moment in the whole, very serious interaction. I could see the car in front of me finishing up and, just before I pulled off, I gave a thumbs up to the woman that I had been dealing with. She gave me a thumbs up back and, with that, I drove out the end of the tunnel, stopped the car at the side of the road, and took a minute to gather myself.

The whole testing process took a bit of energy out of me, probably due to the nerves and to having to process such a new situation. My nose hurt slightly for the rest of the day too. I still managed to be productive though. I got some schoolwork done, I submitted a big online shop for tomorrow and I even managed to get out in the sunshine for a little while to do some gardening. In the evening I ordered a much longed for takeaway. I got the delivery man to leave it on our doorstep and I told him, over the phone, to collect his tip that was taped to the door.

I hope the weather’s nice again tomorrow. It definitely helps to lift the mood!Read more