With COVID-19 the most talked about current affair in news around the world, I discussed the day to day effects of the pandemic on an NHS worker in the diagnostics sector.
How has the coronavirus pandemic affected your work?
As a scientist, the routine workload in Microbiology laboratory has gone down a surprising amount, with less than 50% of daily work. The NHS receives samples from out-patients (GPs) and in-patients (from hospital wards). Microbiologists safely pack these samples and send them to PHE (Public Health England) to be tested. As we started coronavirus testing at the beginning of March, each week the workload more than doubled.
Is there any special way you are keeping up with the influx of cases?
We have brought in a different system of analysis. We have set up for the out-patient samples to be sent directly to PHE and all in-patients are tested with an in-house kit, which has a quick turn-around while giving accurate results.
Have there been any similar outbreaks that have affected the world as COVID-19 has?
There were two types of coronavirus that had outbreaks in the past, SARS and MERS.
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) broke out from 2002 to 2004, with over 8000 people infected worldwide and at least 774 deaths.
MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) broke out in 2012 and was seen mainly in Saudi Arabia and South Korea, but it had less than 10 cases within the UK. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic is much more widespread and unfortunately has caused many more deaths than both of these previous ones.
Why has the number of cases in countries like Italy and Spain overshot the number of cases from China?
Both countries have massive amounts of tourism and therefore asymptomatic tourists have spread the virus unknowingly, and the governments of these countries may not have detected these carriers and implemented social distancing and isolation in time.
In your opinion, how long do you think it will take the UK to recover from the pandemic?
If we strictly follow the guidelines from the Government, we could possibly stop the spread of the virus in around 3 months.
How did it feel on Thursday the 26th of March at 8 pm when households across the UK applauded from their doorsteps and balconies in support of NHS workers?
I felt proud to be able to make a difference in these uneasy times and I felt like the hard work done by not only me but mostly by selfless doctors and nurses all over Britain was being recognised and appreciated.
How can members of the public help to ease the strain on the NHS?
Stay indoors, only travel outside for necessities, work from home if possible and practice social distancing. And of course, wash your hands.
By Amy Francis, the Henrietta Barnett School
