On Monday we went out in search of a pharmacy to conduct lateral flow tests in order to conclude our quarantine. The chap from the health authority had told us we could just go to any pharmacy and get a test. The two local pharmacies, however, did not have any such facility and both suggested the Farmacia Comunale in Lucca.
We headed over to Lucca only to be told by the pharmacist that we would need an appointment and that the first available was 16:00 on Wednesday. We took the appointment and decided we would start doing normal things in spite of the lack of a test as we had anyway done our own lateral flow tests brought with us from the UK.
We parked in our usual spot, walked round the walls and went for lunch in the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro. Felt like freedom.
When we returned for our tests on Wednesday, the pharmacy manager told us he could not do the tests as the computer system was down for the whole of Tuscany and had been since the day before. We asked him to do the tests and issue us with paper results, but he was not willing to do that. We then told him we would need to contact the health authority to let them know our situation and asked for his name. That seemed to galvanise him and he made a bunch of phone calls. In the end he took us off into the room where they conduct the tests and issued us with negative certificates WITHOUT ACTUALLY CONDUCTING THE TESTS.
We knew we were fine and had done the best we could so decided we were now OK and would wait for the health authority to contact us regarding the test results. THEY NEVER DID. No better than the UK then.
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