Hi Friends,

As mentioned in my 2020 recap post, my dad unfortunately was recently tested positive for coronavirus. Thankfully, I am not experiencing any symptoms and I tested negative. I’ll keep this post short, but feel free to DM or Ask.FM me if you find yourself in a similar situation and have any questions.

Thank you for reading – see you next Sunday ❤

Testing Procedure

This is for testing at the Carlsbad CVS Pharmacy – which I highly recommend. Everyone involved was incredibly nice and helpful

1. Schedule appointment with CVS, you will receive an email or text with your appointment info and things you need to bring (your ID, health insurance card, and appointment code)
   
   Note: Pick up calls with No Caller ID on the day of your appointment because it may be CVS. They actually called me an hour before my appointment to let me know I can come early because they were ahead of schedule 🙂
2. When you pull into the parking lot, you’ll see designated parking spots for COVID testing. You do not have to enter the actual CVS building
3. Remain in your car. The nurse will confirm your appointment at your car window. She’ll then sanitize the testing station (a unit outside of CVS) and signal you when it’s OK to come in.
   
   The testing unit has two doors – one for the nurse, one for you. Once inside, there is a large clear divider, to protect the nurse, with a small hole through which she/he can provide you the testing materials. This is a self-administered test.
4. Paper Work. You’ll hold up your ID and she/he will take a picture of it through the clear divider. Same with the health insurance.
5. Test-time. The nurse will provide you a cotton swab to perform the test. I warned the nurse that I am a big baby – I can’t even use nose spray. She gave me the *tip* to tilt my head back – this would be make it more comfortable and easier!
   
   After tilting your head back, you’ll stick the cotton swab in until you meet resistance. You’ll want to go deep enough to ensure you are collecting mucous membrane. Once there, swirl it around twice and then leave it in for 15-seconds. The nurse will keep count.
   
   Afterwards, she/he will ask you to switch. You will use the same cotton swab to perform the same in the other nostril. Yes, the same cotton swab. I thought that was weird but she said it’s to get as much test product as possible.
   
   And then you’re done!
6. You can head home and wait to receive a call (from a No Caller ID) with the results in the same day. I received my results within the hour!

Cost?

For me, the COVID test was 100% covered by my health insurance so I did not have to pay anything extra!

I inquired them about a second test – since I’ll want another test done later to ensure I didn’t contract the virus after the 14 days of quarantine – and she said most insurances are covering a second test! This is because most employers will require at least two negative tests before employees can return to work.

Testing Options

There are many options, here are a few. Just make sure to schedule as soon as possible because spots fill up FAST:

1. Primary Healthcare Provider – This should be your first call. However, some providers have limited quantities and therefore you may not be eligible for testing if you are not considered high risk (even if you have been exposed or are displaying symptoms).
   
   Anyway, feel free to call because they can still answer your questions and provide helpful recommendations + kind tips. If you are ineligible for testing at your provider, please try the following options.
2. UCSD – My sister (who is a nurse) told me to try UCSD (or call 619-543-8260) where they are doing $65 flat fee testing.
3. CVS – CVS (note: the first link listed on Google didn’t work for me) offers two types of test: 1) Regular Lab Testing which gets you results in 3-4 days or 2) Rapid Results Testing which gives you same-day results
4. SD County Testing – Alternatively, you can go see the SD County website which lists many locations

Accommodations

I have a friend who informed me that some San Diego hotels are providing accommodations free of charge to those who need to be quarantined. They provide 3 meals a day and even have nurses on stand by.

If you think this would be good for your situation, you can look more into it here.