COVID-19 testing at Akron site is 'positive' experience for Beacon Journal reporter
As I approached the COVID-19 community testing site in Akron on Tuesday morning, I felt a mix of trepidation and dread.
My husband and I had been trying for five days to confirm if we had the virus. He finally got one by driving an hour away to get tested at a CVS in Warren.
After days of coughs, spent tissues and a lonely New Year’s Eve, we remained in the dark as he awaited his results and I struggled to get a test of my own.
Frustrated, we arranged my test at the drive-up site operated by Summit County Public Health, the Ohio National Guard and local hospitals.
The site, located behind Summa Health’s corporate office at 1077 Gorge Blvd. in Akron, is being offered at a time when COVID cases — and the demand for tests — in Summit County are spiking. Many, like my husband and I, have been challenged in trying to find a test.
More: 'Our cases are soaring': 54% tested at Summit County drive-thru site positive for COVID-19
As I wove through the orange cones at the Summa site, I braced for the next obstacle. At the first checkpoint, a woman asked for my booking code — something I hadn’t received — and I thought: “This is it! I won’t be able to get my test.”
She asked for my cellphone and pulled up a registration page, then directed me to an area where numerous cars were already parked. I filled out the information, and the code I needed magically appeared. I showed this to another woman, who directed me to the next part of the testing site.
I listened to music on 91.3-FM as I inched closer to my target, still unsure I’d get there. I grew more hopeful, though, after I saw a pack of National Guard members swarm the vehicle in front of me, quickly administering tests through the windows to the five people inside.
Finally, it was my turn.
I showed my code, and a National Guard member dressed in khaki pants swabbed my nose on both sides and sealed the sample in a tube. I was relieved it hadn’t hurt as badly as when I was tested last fall at another Summa location and it felt like they took a small sample of my brain tissue. (That test was negative.)
When I asked the guardsman a question, he handed me a card with information on how to get my results and told me, “I just swab noses!”
As I drove away, I looked at my phone and realized I’d gotten through the whole process in 20 minutes. It had gone much more easily and efficiently than I’d expected.
When I arrived home in Copley, I looked at the postcard and saw that it might take up to three days for me to get the results. I had to laugh at that — this would put the results at one week after we’d first started down the testing path.
That night, about 8 p.m., my husband got his results from the CVS test. He had tested positive. We were both relieved to finally have an answer — and assumed my results would be the same, especially because we’d had similar symptoms. We also had both been vaccinated, but hadn’t gotten boosters.
While I was finishing this story Thursday afternoon, I got an alert from Mako Medical, which is administering the tests for the Summa site. My results were in. As we suspected, I had COVID.
I got the results within two days of when I tested, three days less than we waited for my husband's CVS results, though, in fairness, there was a holiday — and a weekend — in that waiting period.
Others I’ve talked to have been able to find home COVID tests. We tried that, but it seemed every place we looked — including the Akron libraries and the health department — was out.
For Summit County residents looking for another option, the community testing site that’s near North High School is a good one. It’s currently open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week until there’s no longer a high demand.
The site offers PCR tests. The testing is free and open to everyone ages 2 and older, with no doctor's order needed.
More: COVID-19 hospitalizations edge up in Summit County. Drive-thru testing starts Tuesday
Appointments are required. To reserve a spot, visit www.summahealth.org/coronavirus/covid-testing.
Appointments are only posted a few days at a time, so if no appointments are available, check back later. We visited the website several times before successfully making an appointment.
For those still in the hunt for a test, I say to you: Best of luck.
For those who, like me, have added a notch to the rising COVID numbers, I'm reminded of something a colleague said to me when I lost my father.
"Welcome to the club," she said. "It's one you never wanted to join."
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: COVID-19 testing at Akron site is 'positive' experience for reporter
