Went for a precautionary COVID test this evening. I’d read snippets of information that it would be horrific and administered by someone without medical training by one of the big outsourcers. I was very wary.

Booked online half an hour before. Lots of availability at the drive-in test site at Oxford. All but empty when I got there too. Staff were unfailingly polite and super cautious about contact and exposure.

The guy that did my test explained it through my closed car window. I was asked to blow my nose with a clean tissue, then he slowly and carefully swapped my throat, then my nostril.

And it was fine. Totally fine. No discomfort, and just a bit tickly. I was at the site for probably twenty minutes, and most of that time was spent by staff talking to me and explaining what would happen.

Long story short: if you’re offered a test, do it. It’s no hassle and there seems to be plenty of immediate availability. Don’t think it’s going to be bad or painful. Definitely go.