What I Wish I Had Known About The Different Rockford COVID-19 Tests Available

There are some distinct differences between the free covid tests available in Rockford. This will help you decide which site is better for you and your family.

Let me be really upfront. If you have a little anxiety over people who don't seem to take this coronavirus thing seriously, we're the same. Socially distanced, masked and washing hands often, that's us.

Even after reading thousands of words on the subject of Covid-19 over the past few months, I still forgot about these differences.

A positive Covid-19 test for someone we were exposed to, over one week ago, pushed our anxiety to an extremely uncomfortable level. So many people, family and coworkers, were now invested in the results of our tests. If I had just remembered these differences, we wouldn't have needed to be tested twice. We also would've gotten the results we needed in 3 days, instead of seven.

To my knowledge, there are only two places in Rockford where you can get a free Covid-19, with or without symptoms, and no appointment. We've not had any symptoms. The first one we used is located in the parking lot of the University of Chicago College of Medicine at 1601 Parkview Avenue. The second one we visited, after getting the information you can here in the video below, is in the Auburn High School parking lot at 5110 Auburn Street.

There is a distinct difference between these two tests:

UIC College of Medicine/National Guard offers the self-administered short swab test. This test is recommended for those who are experiencing symptoms of Covid-19.

Auburn High School/Crusader Clinic offers the nasopharyngeal test. This is the very long swab, way up your nose test. This test is recommended for those who are asymptomatic, people who don't show any symptoms.

So that this information is 100% clear, listen to Dr. Bill Renk, from SwedishAmerican, explain these differences in a little greater detail.

I am happy to report that all tests came back negative. If you're a prayerful person, please continue to pray for our family's 'patient zero.'