Sample collector: No tests for us anymore as most likely to be +ve
New Delhi: Despite literally being on the frontlines of the COVID-19 battle, healthcare workers collecting Coronavirus samples from suspected patients are not just putting their lives at risk but the lives of their family members and loved ones as well. However, these sample collecting technicians don their PPE kits every day and step out because they know that the first T of the 3T strategy would not be possible to accomplish without their work and they continue their daily grind.
Ramesh is a 38-year-old working with a private lab in Delhi. He has been collecting covid samples since May, leaving him with one of the highest chances of exposure to the fatally contagious disease. He collects up to 10 to 15 samples a day. "I go to houses of people who want to get tested and collect their samples," he said.
"The kit includes a suit, goggles, helmet, gloves and a mask," he told Millennium Post.
At home, Ramesh's family is concerned about his health. His 35-year-old housewife waits anxiously for him as Ramesh finishes his shift. "We take precautions when he comes home, but it's still scary to think he is going out every day," she said. Ramesh has two teenagers and an old mother at home.
"We got tested earlier but now they have stopped testing, mostly because it's assumed that half the people will come positive and it will create chaos. This is the reason I ask the patients their symptoms so that I am aware if something happens to me," he said.
Ramesh is also provided with a new PPE kit every day, which he disposes of before entering his house. "There is nothing I can do about it. I just have to do my job. When I come home I immediately go to take a bath and wash my own clothes," added Ramesh.
Ramesh collects samples for Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests. "I will be using the swab technique to collect the samples of the patient," he said. The sample is collected from a patient's nose and mouth, which is then packed in a tube known as a viral transmission kit and taken to the lab for testing.
