The vast majority of health centers in the county have now started testing people with cold symptoms for covid-19. According to Region Norrbotten, the idea is that everyone who has symptoms and wants to be able to pass tests, which is taken with a stick in the nose and throat. The result should then be read on 1177.se within a week.
Camilla Brännström is the head of operations for primary care in Luleå and describes logistics as a challenge.
- We want to take the test outdoors to keep social distance for those who are going to be tested, so it's clear that it is a bit of a hassle to solve it, she says.
Camilla Brännström believes that there is a great interest in doing the test.
- I think that many people want to know.
In addition to health centers, private actors have also started corona testing, but of a different kind. Unlike the health centers' tests that show if the person being tested has covid-19 at the time of the test, the test done at the pharmacy should show if the person had the disease.
- That is why it is very important, we do not want anyone here who has symptoms. It is those who have already had the infection that we can say have had it, if you get a positive response, says Dan Essner, head of pharmacy in Luleå inner city.
Another difference is also that the health centers' test of whether a person has the infection at the moment is free of charge while the private operators are not.
- It is a cost to the individual, then you have to weigh it against what you know.
The antique body tests started on Monday and in the morning all times were booked.
"There is great interest," says Ninna Hallberg, nurse at Doctor 24, who collaborates with the pharmacy during the antibody tests.