Been for a asymptomatic community covid test today (presumably similar to the ones we’ve been asked to administer in schools from January), so I thought I’d share my experience on what it was like and how this might work (or not work) in schools. See thread

Firstly, the organisation and logistics are incredible. Lots of people, lots of information to gather. Strict processes to follow. This certainly isn’t just a easy job for schools to manage.

The sheer size of the space needed for the individual booths is incredible. Say goodbye to your sportshall if you’re going to do this properly and test up to 100 students per hour!

Each booth has strict instructions for how to conduct the swab test. Then you need to pass the swab to the individual test administrator who presumably processes your test results which you receive via text and email within the hour.

My older son (16) managed to do his test himself, but my 12yr old daughter (yr 8) couldn’t do it because she kept gagging. My wife had to help and do it for her. This will be hugely problematic with younger students. I gagged quite a lot too. It’s certainly not very pleasant.

Because you administer the test yourself and on your own, it’s quite difficult to know if you’ve done it accurately, even when following the instructions on the booth wall. The level of consistency is bound to be hugely varied.

My results arrived in almost exactly 30 mins via text and email. Pretty efficient, as long as it’s accurate.

All in all, I have absolutely no idea how this will work in schools. The administration, logistics, training, space and consistency of administering unpleasant testing on kids is going to possibly be the biggest challenge we’ve faced in schools so far.