this morning i got a negative test result for COVID. i'd like to share some stuff from the past few days, some of which will be particular to where i live, some indicate systemic issues, some are simply chance

i first developed symptoms on saturday & started trying to get a test at 4pm. after refreshing the site repeatedly it wasn't until 6pm on sunday that i got a slot

this was a distressing 26hrs, exacerbated by having a fever. i hate to think what it'd have been like for someone less familiar with using the internet

the test site i was allocated as someone without a car was an hour's walk away. this wasn't a big issue for me, but i imagine the hills i had to walk would've been difficult for someone with respiratory problems. at no point with the website were any home testing kits available

i got the earliest slot for my test on monday morning and everything at the test site was handled safely and with care. the people working there were great with me

i only saw two other people get tested in the time i was there (around 30mins). i don't know enough about the safe workings of a testing site to know what to think of this in relation to the difficulty getting a test

i received the result of my test in under 18 hours of being tested, which was much sooner than i expected. i had a good conversation with my GP who was good at identifying from afar (through pics and conversation) what the likely cause of my symptoms might be

hopefully there's something useful in this thread for people. best of luck to everyone needing to get a test, it's a scary thing to try to get your head around when your head's already fuzzy