Now is a good time to get angry at this virus, and for everyone to be seriously working to slow the spread. The holidays are going to be a challenge for all of us, in addition to the challenges we are working with already.

Good information sharing skills sometimes is easiest with visual images. This map is interesting, and filled with COVID information, updated daily.

And here is a zoomed in view of our counties here in Central Minnesota:

Go ahead and open it yourself, to see how it’s being updated. As I’m typing this, if you are in Stearns County in a group of 25 people you have a 90% chance of at least one of you being infected with COVID. When you have the map open, you can just hover over the county and get your numbers.

And of course, some of us can have it and not know – but still spread it around.

So we are all being encouraged to get tested.

In case anyone is considering testing, but isn’t really sure how it works, I’m giving you a quick overview of my test experience.

You can go here to find the testing site closest to your home. I made an appointment to go to the convention center in St. Cloud. You can just show up, but appointments are probably a good idea.

I went Friday evening, after work. They were clearly set up to handle bigger crowds than were present when I was there. Things were set up, organized, and everyone was ready to help us all.

You need to wear a mask, of course. (At this point, you know we ALWAYS wear masks when we go out, right? Of course.) At this facility, at least, they handed out blue paper masks to everyone, and asked you to wear them instead of yours. So, that was unexpected. (And I was wearing a very cute library/book related mask; so it was disappointing to have to switch into a blue, drab mask. But it’s okay. I was brave.)

I trudged through the path that is set up to guide everyone to exactly where we need to go next. Weirdly – the last time I was in this same room was to see roller derby. The contrast between the noisy crowds there to have fun and watch athletes on my last trip, and the very restrained minimal number of people there this time was very weird.

You know those moments during this pandemic when you look around and realize that suddenly the world looks strangely like dystopian scifi novels? This was one of those moments.

At the next desk, they check to make sure you haven’t had anything to eat, drink, or chew in the last 30 minutes. The woman there was telling people that it would take 10 or 15 minutes to get to the test itself, so as long as the person hadn’t had anything in the last 15 minutes it would probably be okay. (As a compulsive rule follower, I had been pretty careful not to drink anything.)

The woman at the desk directed everyone in line to go to an empty testing station at specific tables. She handed us each a box with the test kit. There were a couple dozen tables around the room, each with a number on them. Each person stood at one end of the table to take our tests.

Sorry about the terrible picture here. I was trying to get a feel for how empty the room was, and clearly don’t excel at photography. It’s very spacious, so people are being safe while we were all there. Each table had a bottle of hand sanitizer, directions, and nothing else.

When you get to the table, you flip up the directions to show that it has been used and needs to be cleaned. So, these are the instructions you will follow. You need to have your phone for this, and to go to that website: COVID.VLT.CO.

I already had an account set up with Vault, and it sped things along pretty quickly. You need to put your health insurance info into it, and to take a picture of the card. It’s easier if you have it in advance. (That’s not in the official instructions – just a happy accident I had! You can go ahead and do it right now to save yourself some time later.)

You type in the number on your collection tube, so it’s individualized for you. (And if you also have trouble reading tiny numbers, this is the part that was hardest in the whole process.)

There were staffers who were circulating around the room, ready to help with questions.

Once you get that done, you open up your test kit. You can see mine there on the table, opened up. You pull out the tube, and screw onto the top a little funnel. If you have done other spit tests, such as for one of the genetic test, this will be very familiar. Prepare to stand there for a while, spitting into the tube. Just. Keep. Spitting.

Whew.

You are done when you have filled it up to the designated black line on the tube.

After you finish with all the spitting, you unscrew the little funnel lid and screw the top onto it that has a stabilizing blue fluid. When you get it clicked on tightly enough the blue liquid flows down into your tube, and you’re done!

My instructions said to put the tube into an individual bag, but we didn’t have any. Instead we just put them into a large bag all together. (There was a woman manning that table who also helped.)

The directions said it could be up to a few days to get the results. When you fill out your registration form, you can check a box to receive negative results by email. (I did that.) If you are positive, they will call you to get started with some contact tracing.

I was very happy the next afternoon to get an email saying I was “unlikely to be infected with the virus.” Yay!

It was easy, it was pretty quick. I felt better when I got the results. But of course, I’ll still be very cautious about wearing my mask, washing my hands constantly, and avoiding crowds of people. I would like my next test to be negative too!

None of us knows whether we have Covid; we don’t have to be showing any symptoms to be infected and to be spreading the virus to other people. So go ahead and get tested. Go ahead and take that step toward safety for yourself and – at least as important – for the people in your life .