By geralt on pixabay.com
Location: Ireland
Work schedule: Moved from 7 days/week, 9h/day to 6 days/week, 9h/day. Sundays are off except for the 29th of March because we need to catch up with samples.
Age of samples: Processed a sample from the 22nd of March today. Will take at least 2-3 more days until there is a result for it. No wonder people have to wait so long for their results, the testing process takes ages.
Demographic of lab workers: Mostly people in their 20s, a slight majority of women. Most are biologists or biology-related (e.g. agriculture), there are a lot of undergrads and postgrads.
Availability of in-house testing: Can't test in-house yet, processed samples are being sent to a different facility.
Protective Equipment: Lab coat, goggles, face shield, gloves taped shut around your wrists, underarm protectors and second pair of gloves if you work under a fume hood
Work process:
A) Samples arrive, name and date of birth on test tubes containing samples are matched to name and date of birth on attached form
| Complication | Solution |
|---|---|
| Name or DoB don't match 100% | Still process if similar enough, don't process if complete mismatch |
| Bag with sample is opaque | Open sample bag under fume hood, repack in a clear bag, disinfect |
| Form in same bag as sample (= contaminated) | Open sample bag under fume hood, repack sample in clean, clear bag; put form in a big plastic bag, seal, disinfect, copy form, discard contaminated copy |
B) Transfer sample solution containing the virus in a small tube for inactivation and preparation for testing method (PCR), fill rest of sample solution into other small tube for storage (backup). Attach barcode labels to keep track of them through the process. Sanitize tubes and bring them to the pickup station.
| Complication | Solution |
|---|---|
| Sample leaked | Try to transfer a sufficient amount of liquid into testing tube, sanitize whole fume hood |
| Sample is a dry swab, not in solution | And virus transfer medium, incubate for 15 minutes, vortex (= shake on a shaker specifically made for this), proceed as normal |
| Can't get the stickers off because you're wearing two pairs of gloves, one is too big, and everything sucks | Cry a little bit inside, then ask your lab partner for help |
C) Use PCR (polymerase chain reaction, a method to amplify a very specific piece of DNA. In this case, 2 genes of SARS-CoV-2) to test the sample
| Complication | Solution |
|---|---|
| No facilities for PCR testing these samples | Build new facilities, in the meanwhile send samples to other facility |
I came home rather tired, everything hurts. But my colleagues are nice, the cafeteria has free lunch, and I feel useful.
The very dry and matter-of-fact style of this post shows you how done I am, don't feel very able to write my usual prose.
But I guess some might find it interesting what's going on in (some) testing labs.
I'm really hoping for fast tests/home tests to go commercial soon, the turnover for the method currently used is way too slow.
Bottom line: Sudden spikes in confirmed cases do not necessarily mean more infected people. The testing labs might simply be catching up. Please stay at home anyway.
Signature by @atopy
REALLY interesting, nice to hear the reality/ unreality of the cold, hard testing process.
It must be unbelievably tedious and stressful. I guess you have to be super conscious about where your hands are for 9 hours straight - i.e. no touching your face, I'd find that mental awareness for long exhausting in itself.
Are you being paid extra? I hope you're getting some sort of compensation for being in the front line of this!
As someone who has some practice in the lab, wearing gloves automatically means that I'm hyperaware of my hands. Doesn't apply to all tho, some people reach under their face shields to scratch their nose.
I... Uh... Yeah.
I'm being paid 15€/h (would be 14€ without a bachelor's degree) and 18€/h if I'm doing the night shift (would prefer staying on the day shift tbh). So it's good pay compared to what's usually available (about 12€/h).
With less harsh hours, I'd do it for free, I wasn't sure if I'd be paid when I went to the interview.
The molecular lab here at my work is on mandatory overtime.
Still thousands of tests behind, which goes with lab catching up as you mentioned.
If the molecular department continues to be overwhelmed, I hope the lab reallocate some techs into their section temporarily. They are starting to become grumpy due to the long hours.
I can imagine!
In my lab, everyone is on a 6 week contract so they know it's easy to walk out after. And they're very considerate to each other which keeps the mood up.
It's still a lot of stress and pressure.
I think that is something people really need to understand, there is/does appear to be a back log. There supposedly a lot more testing going on, and it will be very difficult for the labs to keep pace and up to date on results.
I hope you and your co-workers do not push to the point of total exhaustion, that is when mistakes happen, and or frustration sets in.
The good thing about my coworkers is that they seem to generally be very mindful of each other. Lots of "thank you", "you're grand", "please", "of course I'll help you", etc.
Today, one girl opened a sample in an opaque bag. Turns out it was a sample with the virus transfer solution - and it was leaking. Spilled everywhere. Girl was having a bit of a meltdown. Me and one other person proceeded to get her disinfectant, new gloves, a new bag, and told her it's okay, nothng unfixable happened.
The stress and pressure are there, but we take care of each other. It helps that everyone volunteered because they want to do something to help with this pandemic, gives a sense of purpose.
I'm just glad they switched from a 7 day week to a 6 day week ...
They never should have had the 7 day week. It is fine in a real crunch, but after day 12 mistakes happen. I have done the 14 on 1 off route in the past and it is not sustainable. One month at max for me on that road. Glad that you are all watching out for each other.
Is wearing double gloves a normal thing?
I'm only thinking about the times when people warned we shouldn't wear two condoms, as it didn't increase but decreased the safety.
Hopefully you don't need any condoms in the lab.
Double gloving is actually pretty common and does provide an extra layer of protection (literally). You can take off the outer gloves when they get contaminated and are still wearing the inner gloves.
Not an option for condoms, you're correct :P
yes
Thank you for all the details! I had wondered as about the processes for processing the samples.
It can vary, some countries are using slightly other methods as far as I've read
Good to you working on this cause. Best Wishes @suesa. As lemouth said, formatting looks awesome in our app.
Hope you get some good rest. Thanks for documenting your task, it was very interesting and helpful to read.
I was quite interested in reading that mostly women are involved. This changes from physics... So to make it clear,m you are testing various samples to see whether some COVID-19 is included? Is that correct (I may have missed the earlier post and I need to catch up)?
By the way, your post looks lovely on the STEMsocial app.
PS: I hope you didn't cry too much ^^
We're mostly getting nose/throat swabs. These need to be processed and sent for testing to see if there is a SARS-CoV-2 infection, yea :)
I've luckily found a method to handle the stickers without crying
Without removing your lacrimal glands? :D
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