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My Covid test at Collinsons in London seemed less than thorough...

It was negative, so that's what really matters, I suppose, but my fit-to-fly antigen test last Friday at the St Pancras location seemed very quick and not at all thorough. I have only been tested professionally once before and that had the tester swabbing way up high in my nose, the same way I have done myself with home tests.

The woman swirled the swab a couple of times quickly just inside each nostril, and that was it. No far-reaching, extended swabs at all. Within 40 minutes I had a negative result.

Dare I say it...is it possible they are doing this to ensure people get their negative?

Posted by
6733 posts

I was administered an extremely perfunctory test at the airport in Bangkok one week ago today, before my flight home to the US. I too had serious questions about just how valid a test it was. Of course, I was happy my test results were negative. But if my test was typical of how exit tests are being given, I would not place a lot of confidence in the results.

My test was given on the airport grounds itself, by a private business that appeared to be associated with a local hospital. I paid my 250 Bhat (about US $7.25), filled out and signed a short form, let them copy my passport, and took a seat to wait my turn to get my nose swabbed. I was called less than a minute later, directed to sit in a little booth with my mask removed and my head tilted back. The tester stuck the Q-tip just barely into my nostril and quickly counted 12345! about as fast as a skilled auctioneer could could say that, I kind of barely felt the swab going around my nostril, they switched to the other nostril and did the same thing, I was told to go outside and wait. I had been inside the little sample collection booth for about 30 seconds total, and then I stumbled out wondering if I was really done. Yep, I was. I noted the time. About 16 minutes later, they called my name, handed me my negative results, and told me to go. I did.

Now, I had been testing myself daily for the previous week (twice on the day before my departure) -- and I always give my nose a very thorough plunging (maybe too thorough), so I was pretty confident I was negative. But it made me think about what incentives the mass test services have...they know, and you know, everyone getting tested wants very much to test negative (or else they get an expensive, surprise last-minute 10-day extension to their vacation). If somebody gets on a plane after being tested very quickly, and they are actually positive, all those folks they might infect are going to be far away soon enough. Giving someone the bad news of a positive result would probably cause some hassles starting right there and then, so why test deeply, thoroughly, effectively?

I dunno, it just seemed like a VERY quick and not very careful test. I was glad to get on the plane, and shocked to see virtually nobody with a mask on once I stepped off the plane back in Seattle. The first thing I did when I got home was to test myself again. That one was negative, too, thankfully. I've been hunkering down at home and giving my sore nostrils a rest for a few days. YMMV.

Posted by
4761 posts

Sounds like your original swab was the deeper nasopharyngeal technique used originally for PCR and antigen tests. However the midturbinate and anterior names (shallower) approaches are the approved methods for other types of tests (depending on the manufacturer). If you don't believe me, look at the CDC guidelines.

So they weren't going easy just to boost the odds of a negative result.

Posted by
2599 posts

The responses so far tell me it's more a case of me not knowing what to expect, then. They also made a point of advising no eating, drinking, gum chewing or tooth brushing for one hour prior to the test, so I had also thought they'd be doing the mouth swab. Given the extreme lack of mask wearing I was beyond surprised and ever so relieved to test negative at all.

Posted by
9462 posts

I had a joke of a PCR test in Tulsa last December. I had taken one at CVS that was normal, but wasn't receiving the results back, so thought I should back up with another try. So i found an outfit that was doing them AT the airport, scheduled the last appointment of the day (which was like 3:30 or so) and scrambled to get over there in time.

The lady who took my sample kind of barely touched the inside very bottom of each nostril with the swab. What a joke. Even if i had had Covid, this test wouldn't have picked up anything.

By that point I didn’t care — I had already self-tested, so I was pretty sure I was negative (and indeed when the CVS result came back, it was negative too), but I just thought this is what we're relying on to be safe(r) for travel??!!

Posted by
15560 posts

In Israel the PCR tests are nose and cheek swabs. And yes, they are quick and they are not deep. In Budapest the instructions were to not put anything in the mouth for a period (don't remember how long) prior to the test. I assume either the original testing was overly cautious or the accuracy of the testing has been improved.