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HT Salutes: J&K’s microbiologist keeps gruelling hours
Baramulla’s Dr Junaid Ahmad has not seen his family for three months; his team collects at least 200 samples a day
Leading the battle against the coronavirus pandemic from the forefront, microbiologist Dr Junaid Ahmad works round-the-clock to ensure maximum samples are collected and tested.
Each morning, sharp at 8am, Dr Junaid Ahmad enters the sprawling Baramulla Degree College campus, where a newly inaugurated Sports Complex has been converted into a Covid-19 hospital.
Men, women and children, who have already lined up, wait for their turn anxiously as the 35-year-old doctor and his four-member team prepare to collect their samples.
The team collects around 200 samples a day from morning to late afternoon.
The centre has so far collected 6,758 samples, the highest for any single centre in the Union Territory, which is leading the country in the number of tests conducted.
“It is a matter of routine for me now to work from 8am till the evening and at times I leave at midnight depending on the workload,” says Ahmad, as he collects the sample of a young man from Khanpora locality where three elderly people recently died due to Covid-19. The area has been sealed.
“It takes a couple of days for the reports to arrive. If the report returns negative, the person is discharged and incase the report is found positive, the patient is straightway admitted to the Covid-centre,” the young doctor said, adding that around 40 positive patients had been admitted to the centre the day the interview was conducted.
Baramulla district has 562 Covid-19 patients and almost all patients’ samples were collected at this centre.
Though being head of the department collecting samples is not part of Ahmad’s duties he does it nonetheless to boost the morale of his staff.
“Everyday we collect around 200 samples that are then dispatched to SKIMS laboratory. The positive patients are under our constant vigil for 14 days and then on the 14th and 15th day two more samples are collected and if found negative the patient is discharged with certain ICMR guidelines,” he said.
PPE’s CHANGED TWICE A DAY
In the sweltering heat, Ahmad has to change PPE sets at least twice or thrice in a single day besides shuttling between the Covid-centre and the Government Medical Hospital laboratory.
“I have to oversee collection of samples, line listing and draft plans with the head of medicine,” he says.
‘’Our team takes care of triple packing, para-filming and putting samples in vaccine carriers.We maintain 20 degree icepacks and also prepare the viral transport medium (VTMs) every night hours before the sampling process begins,’” he says.
HASN’T SEEN FAMILY IN THREE MONTHS
Ahmad has not gone home for the past three months. His house is 60 kilometers away from his centre and he has been putting up at a hotel close to the hospital. His only contact with his family, comprising his wife, eight-year-old daughter, seven-months-old son and aged parents, is phone.
“My father is diabetic and has a stent in his heart. He is also hypertensive. I stay away from them as I don’t want them to face any complication,” he says. “On Eid, which is our biggest festival, I remained in the Covid centre with my team.”
Ahmad joined GMC Baramulla, as assistant professor and became head of the department t in 2018.
“The saddest day for me was when 62 samples tested positive from this centre on a single day and I knew some of the patients could die,” he said, while adding that each day brings new hope for Covid-19 patients.
“Only last week, I discharged 56 patients after they all tested negative. For me, the patients and their families, it was a joyous moment.’’
