Could you bury it under another layer of sheetrock? That would cost some money but may be easier and healthier in the long run.
^^^
Sure, I have before, but not for the reason of asbestos. Just had some rough looking sheetrock that was easier just to put another layer up. Just use longer screws to reach the wood beams. Do-it-yourselfers would still save a fortune compared to having someone else come in to clean up the asbestos if they still don’t think they can do it.
I did check too, there are plenty of youtube videos showing how easy it is to do this. For asbestos, there’s a little bit more prep work, with plastic covering everything, including wrapping it around your shoes, and using disposable coveralls. It shows a really good two stage air mask. I think another excellent choice would be an air mask that is air fed in from another room. Hobby air makes one of those for painters and others using more harsh chemicals, but there are others. E-bay is a good place to look for them. At Van’s Air Force MB, there are plenty that buy their mask with hose attachments, and then make the rest out of certain vacuum cleaners. They can then spray all kinds of nasty chemicals onto the metal which prevents corrosion, and they don’t have to breathe the fumes. They also use it for painting their aircraft.
I was going to suggest this… just use a good quality of quarter inch sheetrock, get a nice clean paintable surface.