By Mehak Arora
As I sat in my first in-person class this fall at Lazaridis School of business, I was terrified. Even in the humdrum of students talking and professor teaching, I could not stop thinking about who sat before me. Were they covid-negative? Did they pick their nose during the class? Well, that is the most common practice every human does. Not only would it be gross, but it is the easiest way to contract COVID-19.
The only thing that calmed my nerves were the university protocols in place. Everybody was wearing a mask, professors were double-masked and everyone had submitted proof of vaccination. For students who aren’t fully vaccinated, they had to perform a covid-19 rapid test every Monday and submit it.
And that is where the story of my experience with COVID-19 rapid tests begins. Don’t worry, I am fully vaccinated, go Pfizer!
One fine afternoon my roommate and I were having a nice cup of black coffee, checking our schedules and someone knocked on the door. It was a parcel of covid-19 rapid tests for my roommate, who failed to submit her proof of vaccination. Even though I wasn’t required to take the test, I was excited to do it just for the sake of understanding how it works. It is shocking to see how far we have come as a community fighting against covid-19, first came the PCR tests, and then multiple vaccines, of which some got banned, and now take-home rapid tests!
As you read along, you might feel it’s a review of a covid-19 rapid test and that’s exactly what it is. Don’t worry, it’s not one of those trashy one-line reviews. This might help you form an opinion on current rapid tests in the market.
Let me start with some good things about the test. It was delivered to my doorstep thus, making it convenient and there were enough tests to last a whole year. I wouldn’t say the packaging was top quality but it was decent.
Moving on to what I completely hated about it, yeah, you must think, are those the only good things? Unfortunately, yes.
As soon as I opened the box, there were no labels or clear instructions on how to perform the test. It took me 20 mins to figure out the procedure and what is the use of each part. Trust me when I say this because I love making Ikea furniture!
After figuring that out, I started inserting the swab in my nose and performing the test but, I started sneezing. With that, self-doubt kicked in — Does all the sneezing mean I have contracted the virus? And it felt like my worst decision ever. After 20 mins, once my sneezing stopped, I put the swab in a plastic tube filled with a liquid and then on the testing device which looked exactly like a pregnancy test. While I awaited the results, I took a shower, cleaned my room, and washed my dishes. Now you can probably imagine how long it took — more than 20 mins. And the wait was nerve-wracking. The sniffling, sneezing, and itching in my nose made me nervous. Who likes to wait 45 minutes to find out a test result which can be life altering?
Thankfully, I tested negative and there was a sigh of relief. Certain questions popped up in my mind right at the moment — How accurate was the test? What to do with my test result? Is it authenticated and verified? How will the university know if I tested negative? And most importantly, how do I dispose of the test? Unfortunately, I still don’t know the answer to any of these questions.
Right then, I noticed there was an instruction booklet 200 pages long. Answer this honestly, have you ever read the instruction booklet? Let alone that, have you ever read a 200 page textbook for university? Who has the time to read through all the pages of the booklet?
Out of curiosity, I gave reading it a shot. And I was mortified after I found out the liquid used to test was poisonous — like what? It spilled over my hand when I was performing the test, thankfully I washed it after but if I hadn’t, God knows what would have happened. It also came to my attention that you can’t take a test right after smoking — a little more notice would have been good — just saying. In my opinion, the instruction booklet was made for the sole purpose of avoiding any legal charges.
While there are many rapid tests out in the market, not every test is user-friendly. Before you take a test, make sure it is authenticated, has clear instructions, and specifies all the precautions. Now, let’s talk about your experience. Have you ever taken a covid-19 rapid test? How was your experience? The comment section is your safe space.
