What It’s Like Taking A COVID-19 Test In Hong Kong

Tsui is an office lady living in Hong Kong. She works from home without much contact with people yet recently opted to take a COVID-19 test at a private hospital. We asked her why she did that. 

Q: What made you take the COVID-19 test?

A: I found it hard to breathe. It felt like I was running low on oxygen and had to breathe deeper than normal. It did not feel like the normal flu. Besides, there had been a large number of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong (more than one hundred local community cases everyday). Since I had asthma when young and heard that people with weak respiratory systems would be more susceptible to COVID-19, I was concerned. 

As a citizen of Hong Kong, what procedures did you have to go through in order to get the COVID-19 test done?

I just made an online appointment at a private hospital. It is quite easy to guarantee a test now. Since I was very worried, I made the appointment for the following day. I thought the schedule would be quite full at first, but it turned out I was assigned to one in the morning of the next day. The test might have been quite hard to get months ago, but now it’s become so simple that anyone sick can ask for the test, I think.

How much did you pay for the test? 

It costs 1800 HKD (around 320 SGD) for such a test in a private hospital. If you can’t afford it, you can go to a public hospital. However, I heard that the people who chose to test at public hospitals had to queue for hours.

Can you describe how the test was carried out?

When I arrived at the hospital, there was a special counter for COVID-19 tests. I registered and filled in some questionnaires. Then I met the doctor and he told me to provide a saliva sample. Then I paid for the test and went home to wait for the result. I received the report in my mailbox at night. It was quick and convenient.

How did you feel? And how was the result?

Before the test, I was quite stressed. I was afraid the test might be painful, I was worried that people would discriminate against me. Besides, I was very afraid of having COVID-19 because of having had asthma when I was young. But the test in the hospital was not painful at all. The staff were helpful and I did not feel discriminated by others there. Maybe people were already used to it. My testing result was negative, but I still felt sick. Maybe it was the flu.

Would you join the free testing for COVID-19 provided by the Hong Kong government next week? 

Surely not. Rumour has it the DNA results would be collected by the government for other purposes. I know some people would, they don’t believe in conspiracies, but I would not join anyway.

Tsui hopes to be able to go drinking in clubs with friends without masks next year. She cannot imagine still needing to wear a mask for another year. 

More interviews with people affected by COVID-19 here.

Photographs courtesy and copyright of Studio Incendo. Interviewer: Kauai
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