Chat about Novel Coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - COVID-19

It does depend on who does the test though. Some of the people administering them like to inflict pain.

I've done 5 tests on myself (and my wife and daughter) under the supervision of a nurse.

Yes you occasionally hit the spot for a bit of a gag reflex but the severity will be down to how vindictive the person is. For the nose I was told to only go round the inside of each nostril, the swab doesn't need to go more than 5mm into the nose.

Yeesh, I feel for you.

Not on that level, but 25 years of rugby have left me with a deviated septum (still model pretty on the outside though, natch). I can get my finger way further up my left nostril than my right. So swabbing the left was easy, the right not so much.

Is this the beginning of a second wave or are the newspapers scaremongering?

In Belfast you have to do it yourself, they don't swab you.

So if that is an option, maybe that suits you better? That way you've more control over timing etc.

Well, what IS a second wave?

Local outbreaks are to be expected... is it another wave if the new cases are x % of the old cases?

The USA clearly is in one, look at their charts but they have huge outbreaks not local ones.

I think there is a question between second waves and extended first waves, particularly in the US, where a lot of States are still well in their first wave.

For it to be a second wave I think it needs to have dropped to close to no local transmission else it is just still the same wave.

May sound like semantics, but I think there is a difference, a second wave is something that may or may not be someones fault, an extended first wave is a sign that restrictions were relaxed too soon.

For the nose I was told to only go round the inside of each nostril, the swab doesn't need to go more than 5mm into the nose.

Ha! Tell that to the nurse who does ours...she goes several inches in, right to the back of your throat through both of our nostrils!

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Sadly not. To get into Austria you need to have a negative test taken within 4 days of travel date with a supporting medical certificate saying you are symptom free. We are travelling on a Monday and few of the self test options guarantee turn around in a suitable timeframe.

The clinic we use gurantees to do the test and certificate within 48 hours, usually within 24.

They're just being mean then.

There's no reason to conduct a nasopharyngeal swab like that, only a bog standard nasal swab.

I'll be having my first ever swab test on Sunday morning.

I'm refereeing a snooker tournament in Sheffield next week and need to follow Covid secure protocols.

I have huge nostrils - can fit most of my little finger up my right one. Hope that helps.

Can you send me a link to this clinic, I may need to do the same to go to Hungary soon

Sure, will PM.

Are you travelling from the UK because the rules changed at the weekend?

See: https://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/austrian-embassy-london/

My daughter had one at a drive through place (I wasn't present) but told me it wasn't that bad and didn't really feel it which surprised me. She then had one in hospital when I was present and it was like your photo and she was less than happy with the experience.

The nurse did say that there are new, flexible swabs being rolled out that are far more pleasant.

You have put a massive smile on my face! Thank you for drawing that to my attention! :D

We are travelling via Germany but that seems to be allowed under the new rules.

And now the ethical question!

Do we have our tests done anyway even though its not a requirement? We have two tests booked at a cost of £200 each which cannot be refunded.

Neither of us have symptoms and we have been isolating for nearly two weeks just for these tests. I suppose the decent thing to do is make sure that neither of us are asymptomatic carriers.

This is more a rhetorical question as I know the right thing to do is minimise the risk to our hosts in Austria.

I say do it, if only out of interest.

I probably would, not least in-case the rules change again before you go.

I was supposed to be driving to Niederau, Austria (booked last year) for three weeks at the end of August but cancelled on Monday. If it had just been me I probably would have gone but I was travelling with 87 year old father and was concerned about getting stranded out there.

We might as well get it done, if only for peace of mind. If one or both of us have it, we grudgingly prioritise not killing anybody over having a holiday :D

Totally understand the decision about not travelling with your Dad. That's a different kettle of fish altogether.

One of the major factors in us deciding to take this risk is that we have made contingency arrangements for if we are stuck there.

Meanwhile

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Any advice for dealing with stubborn colleagues at work? I’m currently in a public facing role and 2 of my co-workers have no respect for Covid precautions whatsoever. I wear a homemade mask and my 63 y/o colleague takes the piss out of me. I’m literally doing it for you, fool! I’ve highlighted my concerns to the owners but they’ve got other issues and have also become blasé about the virus.

Don't get involved with a mass mask debate...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jfPdZMMF5U

That’s hilarious. No way am I mask debating at work, my colleagues (and the underage work experience kid) on the other hand...

Time for @General_Lucifer to weigh in here. I gather he know about mask debating at work. Not that he is the #BogWanker himself.

Mask debating at work can only end messily and is surprisingly unsatisfying for all concerned.
It’s best to abstain.

Incidentally, I find a great witty retort to individuals who mock you for taking sensible and legally required precautions is to ask them to keep you in mind whilst they are slowly drowning to death, alone, on lungfuls of snot.

Either that or get a Black Lives Matter mask and give the cunt a heart attack.