Want to see what a test for the coronavirus entails?
Photojournalist Lauren Petracca of The Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston, S.C., can show you.
It’s essentially the same as a test for the flu. Here’s a video of her getting tested at a drive-by center similar to the one seen on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.
Want to see what it's like to get a #Coronavirus test? Hint: It's not fun. pic.twitter.com/BaTOENQbCo
— Lauren Petracca (@LaurenPetracca) March 17, 2020
According to USA Today, “If the patient is calm, the swabbing takes a mere 10 seconds or so and is not painful. A jittery patient can make things more difficult.”
Petracca tweeted that she developed symptoms last weekend, took an online screening and qualified to be tested.
“It will be a few days before results come back. I’m guessing I had a flu, but wanted to do my due diligence in case,” she wrote on Twitter.
Reached by email, Petracca described the procedure.
“It kind of felt how it looked, like something went further up my nose than I’ve ever had before,” she wrote to the Trib. “Afterward, I kind of had the feeling like I needed to sneeze.”
