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Bloodletting, Pandemic-style
Oct. 14th, 2020 02:32 pmToday I went to a lab on Centrepointe to get some long-overdue blood tests. I'm supposed to get them every two months but on account of the current pandemic, I had not gone in since late January. It was a rather different experience today but things were well organized and it went pretty smoothly.
As with all indoor activities these days, I had to don a face mask before entering the building. People bound for LifeLabs were to go through the main entrance while those going for X-rays were asked to use a different door. And unlike on previous occasions, I had booked an appointment online a couple of weeks beforehand. Once inside, there was a physically-distanced line-up in the lobby outside the lab offices themselves. A lab employee was in and out on a regular basis, asking who had appointments and for what time and collecting things from people who were just dropping something off. At my appointed time, I was asked to come into the waiting room where they took my information and health card and invited me to sit on one of the very limited number of widely-spaced chairs until my name was called. There was also a screen in there indicating who was next in the queue and what the approximate wait time would be.
After maybe four or five minutes, I was called to one of the four cubicles. At this point the procedure was pretty much as it's always been, except that the technician was wearing a face shield in addition to her smock and mask. And once she had all her test tubes full of my blood and I was duly bandaged, I was asked to move to the visitor's chair to get my jacket on and my things together so she could clean and disinfect my chair for the next patient.
So overall, a pretty efficient process. I'll go back in two months and this time, I'll know what to expect.
And now, a short update on yesterday's post. I was having a bit of a moan about those who complain about irresponsible young Covidiot partygoers and thereby only exacerbate the generation gap. Well, it seems at least one CBC reporter, along with some of the experts she interviewed, would agree with the stance I took yesterday:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/young-people-spread-alternatives-1.5760558?cmp=rss
I've no doubt we'll be hearing more on the topic as Ottawa now holds the dubious honour of being Ontario's community spread hotspot.
As with all indoor activities these days, I had to don a face mask before entering the building. People bound for LifeLabs were to go through the main entrance while those going for X-rays were asked to use a different door. And unlike on previous occasions, I had booked an appointment online a couple of weeks beforehand. Once inside, there was a physically-distanced line-up in the lobby outside the lab offices themselves. A lab employee was in and out on a regular basis, asking who had appointments and for what time and collecting things from people who were just dropping something off. At my appointed time, I was asked to come into the waiting room where they took my information and health card and invited me to sit on one of the very limited number of widely-spaced chairs until my name was called. There was also a screen in there indicating who was next in the queue and what the approximate wait time would be.
After maybe four or five minutes, I was called to one of the four cubicles. At this point the procedure was pretty much as it's always been, except that the technician was wearing a face shield in addition to her smock and mask. And once she had all her test tubes full of my blood and I was duly bandaged, I was asked to move to the visitor's chair to get my jacket on and my things together so she could clean and disinfect my chair for the next patient.
So overall, a pretty efficient process. I'll go back in two months and this time, I'll know what to expect.
And now, a short update on yesterday's post. I was having a bit of a moan about those who complain about irresponsible young Covidiot partygoers and thereby only exacerbate the generation gap. Well, it seems at least one CBC reporter, along with some of the experts she interviewed, would agree with the stance I took yesterday:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/young-people-spread-alternatives-1.5760558?cmp=rss
I've no doubt we'll be hearing more on the topic as Ottawa now holds the dubious honour of being Ontario's community spread hotspot.
