NOTE: My first Swab Test experience was in May 2021 for the hospital admission requirement but I added another Swab Test experience at the bottom, this time due to having Covid-19 symptoms that happened in September 2021.
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Hello dear readers! Finally, I’m back blogging. We are only in the first half of 2021 but too many things already happened to me. One thing is that I finally underwent Gallbladder surgery which I blogged here. As part of the hospitalization requirements in the New Normal, a patient needs to undergo a Swab test before admission.
So, for those looking for an easy, fast and affordable swab test procedure (no appointment needed), we’ve experienced one at Cebu Doctors Hospital Drive-Thru. The normal rate is Php 5000 (same with Chong Hua Hospital) but for those with PhilHealth, you only need to pay Php 1591.
You need to process your PhilHealth first in the Cebu Doctors building, make sure the date on the paper is the same as the date of testing. My dates were not the same because we processed in advance the PhilHealth form. Thankfully, the staff considered it upon submission for swab testing because I’ll be admitted at the same hospital anyway. There’s a different process I think for PWD, pregnant women and seniors, so it’s best to ask the staff around or guards.
If you decide to go to their Drive-Thru testing, please don’t expect that you’ll be accommodated right away. We arrived there at 6:00 AM but the test was done at exactly 8:00 AM. We didn’t mind waiting though.
There were moments I felt a little scared but when I saw a little kid getting his swab test done in front of our car, heck that gave me a lot of courage. When it was my turn, there was no more fear, it wasn’t painful, so I guess I got scared for nothing. I say there was a little discomfort, but it was tolerable. Then I got a little worried about the possible result. But thanks to God, the result was Negative, I received the result in my email at 3:30 AM the next day. Don’t forget to provide your email address if you want to receive the results through email.
That’s it for my first swab test experience, I have no plans of experiencing it again if not for travels. Stay healthy and be safe everyone!
UPDATE (September 30, 2021):
My family of four experienced Covid-19 symptoms last September 2021 so my husband and I decided to have our Swab test taken at Cebu Doctors Hospital again (just the two of us, we had the kids tested after we received our results). The rate that time was around Php 4200 (sorry, I forgot the exact mount) and since it was a bit expensive for us, we decided to use our Maxicare insurance. We had a teleconsultation first from a Maxicare doctor, and because we were provided with a Doctor’s request for a swab test, we only paid Php 900 each when we went to Cebu Doctors Hospital the next morning.
Unlike our first experience where we needed to process some documents inside the hospital, this time, the process was more convenient. We just stayed in the car the whole time, the staff collected the necessary papers (make sure you have everything for your insurance – Doctor’s request, PhilHealth documents, etc.) and payment. The same as last time, the waiting duration for us was 2 hours, we started queueing at 9:00 AM and finished around 11:00 AM. The email was also received at dawn, this time, the result for me was POSITIVE. Certainly, it was not the type of news I wanted to see as soon as I woke up! Yes, I tested positive for Covid-19, including my 2 kids. My husband tested Negative which is usually normal for someone who experienced Covid symptoms quite a while before the Swab test. Here’s the timeline of our symptoms: https://www.iwaydiaries.com/my-family-had-covid-19-in-2021-heres-the-timeline-of-our-symptoms/.
