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.
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