A line up of cars full of people waiting for covid tests at the Richmond testing centre.
Late last week, I had a scratchy throat and a bit of a stuffy nose. Not wanting to spread any germs, I stayed home for a few days and it didn’t get any better. It didn’t get much worse either, but because it wasn’t going away, I decided to get a covid test.
In Richmond, where I live, there is a testing centre set up in a series of large tents in a city-owned parking lot near the hospital. I have never seen any long lineups of cars or anything there, so I thought I would be pretty safe if I arrived 15 minutes before opening time.
I arrived at 8:45 in the morning, thinking I would likely be the only person there. That was my first mistake. There were already about 20 cars ahead of me, lined up in rows inside the parking lot. By the time the testing station opened at 9, at least another 20 had arrived and by 9:15 the lot was full.
About every five minutes or so, the line would move, so I gauged that to be about the time it takes for a test. I sat back and read a book for a while I was waiting. It was a bit like waiting at the border crossing, but it was consistently five minutes between movements.
After about an hour, I was at the front of the line and pulled up to the first station. The tents are set up how I imagine military tents are set up in the desert. They provide shade, but the flaps were all wide open and drawn up, ensuring lots of air flow through the space. This being Canada, there were also heaters set up, although I don’t think they were turned on yet.
At this point, the process became more like a drive through restaurant – one window to order, one window to pay and a final window to pick up your food. Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same. There is no payment and no food, either.
At the first station, a woman fully enclosed in multiple layers of personal protective equipment approached my car window and asked me a few questions. She took down my healthcare number and checked my ID. She asked me my symptoms. And then I waited to move ahead to the next station.
When I moved ahead to the next station, the person talked to me through the passenger side window. She was wearing a mask, but no face shield. She remained seated at a table with a computer that was very close to an open tent flap. She asked me a few more questions. When she was finished, she placed some paperwork inside a plastic sleeve under my windshield wiper.
When I reached the third station, I knew it had to be the actual testing station because it was the last one. A man and a woman, both wearing full PPE, took the plastic sleeve and paper work, asked me my name and birthdate and then came around to the driver’s side of the car. They told me the test would take about 10 seconds and would be uncomfortable. They asked me to tip my head back as far as I could. I did and closed my eyes.
I was shocked at how far up and back the test strip went, but far worse was the intense burning I could feel inside. I don’t know if anything is on the tip of that giant Q-tip, but it felt like it had been dipped in some Tiger Balm before entering my brain. The test itself was over quickly (10 seconds that felt longer), but the burning sensation stayed with me for a couple of hours.
They told me I had to self-isolate until I received by results and said I would have the results on my ehealth within 48 hours. I would only hear from them if it was positive. I was home again from the testing station by 10:30.
The next morning at 7:30 a.m., I received an email telling me my results were on my ehealth. Thankfully, they were negative. A few days have now passed and my minor cold symptoms are gone.
Meanwhile, the changes have continued:
- Just one week after B.C. passed the 10,000-case mark, we’re at the 11,000-case mark. We’ve averaged 138 new cases per day this week. In the past week, there have been covid-19 exposures at 33 B.C. schools. The province has 1,494 active cases and more than 1,000 of those are in the Fraser Health area.
- B.C. has had its first confirmed case of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MISC). A child younger than age five had the symptoms of the syndrome and tested positive for covid-19, said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s public health officer. Prior to now, 16 children in B.C. had suspected cases of MISC, but none of them tested positive for covid-19.
- Dr. Henry told people to choose one sport and one league and stick with that, as cases rise. In particular, she asked parents to respect the safety rules for recreational sports and not mingle if watching.
- In China, the government will test all nine million residents of a city where a covid-19 outbreak has occurred, the Globe and Mail reports.
- The Canada Emergency Response Benefit of $2,000 per month for people who had lost their jobs ended on October 3. Some people can apply for regular Employment Insurance, and for those who don’t qualify, such as people who are self-employed, there are two new programs that might cover them. The new programs are the Canada Recovery Benefit and the Canada Caregiver Recovery Benefit. The first is for people who are not eligible for EI who have lost at least 50 per cent of their income and the second is for people who cannot work at least half of the time because they have to care for a child who is either sick or unable to attend school because it is closed.
- Some places in Canada – Ontario, for example – and the world – Britain, for example – are changing to a more regional approach to covid-19 restrictions. B.C. is still sticking with a province-wide approach, although the hardest-hit areas are definitely the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal health regions.
- Johnson and Johnson has paused a vaccine trial after one trial participant had an unexplained disease , CTV reports. Other vaccine and antibody treatment trials have also been paused to investigate possible negative effects.
- More than 75 per cent of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital reported abnormal symptoms three months later, a new UBC study found, the Vancouver Sun reported.
- People are getting re-infected with covid-19 and sometimes it’s worse the second time, the Vancouver Sun reported.
- A cycling studio in Hamilton, Ontario has been linked to 69 covid-19 cases, the Globe and Mail reported.
- Eleven Swiss Guards, who provide security for the Pope, have tested positive for covid-19, the Vatican News reports.
- Melania Trump spoke out about her experience with covid-19 and revealed that Donald Trump’s youngest son Baron Trump had also tested positive for the virus. Donald Trump has rejoined the campaign trail.
- Helplines for women experiencing violence in the home have seen big increases in calls, the Canadian Press reports.
- Senator Kamala Harris, who is Joe Biden’s running mate, has suspended campaigning because someone on her campaign team tested positive for covid, the New York Times reports.
Stay healthy, everyone!
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