The Doctor Will See You Now [Non-Fiction]

Chapter 110: The COVID Series

A few weeks ago, a test returned with a false negative on a patient who was then released onto the general ward. They later had a fever and had their nCoV retested -- and it came back positive.

The nCoV tests aren't 100% and that's partly why we don't test literally every single person (plus due to lack of manpower and resources). If a person hasn't got symptoms, the yield (that is, how much virus particles we get) from a single sample is very low, meaning even if you're infected, you don't necessarily test positive (yet). Even if you test at the right time, there is a (much much smaller) chance you'll test negative despite having the virus, so-called a 'false negative'.

As a result of the false negative -- this is suspect due to the patient being tested too early -- every single person in the entire department has to undergo testing in case we are asymptomatic carriers, although, to be fair, our yield is probably quite low too.

I got my nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) taken. Ohhh boy. Imagine a long cotton bud on a little bendy plastic wire. Imagine that shoved up your nose. And a bit further. And then wriggled left and right and in and out. Imagine that going on for about ten seconds. Then repeat in the other nostril. Tears streamed out of my eyes. I could swear the swab was going into my brain.

0/10 would not recommend.