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Editorial: CBS19 reporter exposed to COVID-19 | What's the next step?

How hard is it to be tested for COVID-19? CBS19's Matt Lackritz was searching for a test after being exposed to the virus earlier in the week.

TYLER, Texas — I found out Friday evening that I came directly in contact with a person who's positive with coronavirus.

I've been careful in trying not to go anywhere without a mask trying to take as many precautions as possible, but the one thing I've still been doing is playing tennis. That's how I came into contact with the virus.

I saw a post on Facebook alerting people a staff member at Faulkner Tennis Center has a positive case of coronavirus, and I was able to confirm privately that I came in direct contact with that person.

Since it was already late Friday when I found out, I waited until Saturday morning to start looking for a testing site.

The first thing I did when I woke up, was type into Google "coronavirus testing near me."

I live in Tyler, and what I noticed right away is that there was nowhere I could get a test done Saturday that was close to me.

The closest available seemed to be Family First Clinic and Urgent Care in Jacksonville, roughly 35 minutes away. I gave them a call and they told me they don't do COVID tests on the weekends, so I moved on.

Next, I tried to make an appointment at Health Care Express Urgent Care in Longview, about an hour away.

At first, it seemed they would be able to help me. I was able to set up an appointment and was just waiting on their physician to give me a call to set up a time.

They called me back and said we can't test you today because we're out of tests and it could be Monday or possibly later until we have more tests.

Also, before they canceled, they told me the appointment would cost more than $150; and it wasn't for the test. It was just for the appointment.

Lastly, I reached out to Integrity Urgent Care in Athens, about 45 minutes away.

They set an appointment up for me and I got tested Saturday afternoon without any problems.

Getting a test is more complicated than I initially expected. If you try and get a coronavirus test on the weekend, your journey to this test might look something like this.

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