Here's what it's like to go through COVID-19 testing in Nova Scotia

A Nova Scotia woman who returned from the U.S. via Toronto on March 4 says the province's COVID-19 test is "so straightforward" and took about two hours.

Teri Peterson, a retired professor of medicine, said she was tested for the coronavirus on Wednesday and just over 24 hours later, a public health nurse called her with good news: her test was negative.

There are no cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia right now, but health officials said Friday they fully expect cases to arrive here. To date, there have been 226 negative lab tests.

Peterson returned from a quick trip to Chicago with a cough and shortness of breath, but not a fever. She has a heart condition, and often wears a mask in public.

The Nova Scotia Health Authority says anyone who has travelled internationally should monitor their symptoms for 14 days after they return. If they develop fever and/or cough, they should call 811.

The health authority says people must call 811 before they show up to one of the assessment sites.

Peterson suspected COVID-19, so she called her doctor. Peterson said her doctor told her that it was likely not COVID-19 since she didn't have a fever, and to visit the hospital in Windsor, N.S., for a chest X-ray.

When she arrived at the hospital on Wednesday, a nurse asked about her symptoms and her recent travel outside the country.

Peterson said the nurse then quickly informed her that she needed to go to the Cobequid Community Health Centre, one of the assessment sites for COVID-19 in Nova Scotia. That hospital is about 50 kilometres away from the one in Windsor.

"When I arrived at the Cobequid Centre in Lower Sackville, there was someone right inside the door, and she said, 'Yes, I know you're coming,'" Peterson told CBC's Information Morning.

She said she was immediately given hand sanitizer and a face mask.

After she was admitted, Peterson said a nurse began taking people's vital signs.

"So she did everyone's temperature by an ear probe. Then she did blood pressure, a heart rate and respiratory rate," Peterson said.

All of the information was written on a piece of paper that Peterson gave to a nurse in a separate room when she was called in.

Peterson said she then had to answer survey questions "and as a result of that, they then determine, does this person fit all the criteria to have the nasal swab done?"

She said some people were sent home without a swab, but she was taken into another room for a swab of her nose.

"They tell you it's quite painful and it isn't," she said. "It's just not pleasant to have anything stuck deeply in your nose, but that's all they have to do."

What happens after the test?

Before she left the Cobequid Community Health Centre, Peterson said she was told to presume the test is positive for 72 hours or until the test result comes in.

She said her test was sent to the national lab in Winnipeg for a result.

On Thursday, Dr. Todd Hatchette, chief of microbiology for the Nova Scotia Health Authority, said negative tests can now be declared at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax within 24 hours.

Presumptive cases will still go to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg for confirmation.

Hatchette said it can take two to three days to get results for tests sent to Winnipeg, and that turnaround time can be affected by the volume of tests handled by the Winnipeg lab.

On Thursday evening, about 26 hours after her COVID-19 test, Peterson said she received a call from a public health nurse with the news it was negative.

"I'm feeling great," she said, adding she will continue to self-isolate for the remainder of the 14 days.

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