Won't rest till virus is vanquished, say Victoria's waste-handling staff

Infectious spirit

The Covid-19 wards in Victoria Hospital are high-strung and engulfed in a flurry of activity. The hospital has changed so much in a span of four months.

One of the most visible changes for Infection Control Nurse A H Saraswathy is that her colleagues now don personal protective equipment (PPE). The wards are full of anxious patients, but Saraswathy sister, as she is affectionately known, has a singular focus.

She is in charge of collecting, handling biomedical waste, including the material that has come in contact with Covid-19 patients. She also tracks the movements of doctors and healthcare workers who treat infected patients and makes sure that each surface is disinfected after they leave.

“When people think of a nurse, they do not often think about this work, but preventing further infection is an integral part of the recovery process even in non-Covid times,” she says.

When Covid-19 cases started in the city in the beginning of March, Saraswathy knew it was only a matter of time before there would be an explosion in the number of cases. As the number started to balloon, wary of the close contact with Covid-19 patients, her two daughters, one an MBA graduate and another a BBA student, urged her to avail of leave.

Saraswathy says the oath that she took rings in her ears. “We took an oath to serve, protect and help when we can. Now is the time that the city needs us,” she says.

But then she pauses and in a moment of vulnerability admits, “even I have my anxieties, I live with my family. It is scary, but I have a responsibility”. She takes every precaution possible. As soon as she reaches home, she changes out of her clothes and heads for a bath and isolates herself in a room.

Besides, she assures, with 23 years of nursing experience under her belt, and having confronted other outbreaks in the past, she feels handling Covid-19 is not out of her reach.

Saraswathy works with a team of six. Each ward has separate colour-coded bins for general, food, PPE, syringe, vials. These are carried in closed trolleys by the housekeeping staff. The team was aware of the 2016 general disposal protocol, so it was not difficult for Saraswathy to train them to deal with Covid-19 waste.

Members of the housekeeping staff, like Ravikumar, who predominantly handle segregation, packing and handing over colour-coded bags of waste to a biomedical waste agency that ensures its safe disposal, are given two sets of gloves.

For the 36-year-old, Covid-19 feels like any other illness. “I have been doing this job for two years, this does not feel strange,” he says with resolve.

Ravikumar does not feel scared, he is happy with the knowledge that his work is contributing to keeping people safe, “but I get a little sad when people who have known me for years avoid me.”

He particularly admires Saraswathy sister for her unending support for her team. “Even in her busy schedule, she calls up everyone to check if we’ve eaten and if we are wearing our gear properly,” he smiles.

“In fearful situations like this, it is important to keep your peers happy, they should feel supported,” Saraswathy says.

Two of her colleagues tested positive this month for the virus, “they were anxious, but we keep in constant communication with them, sending them positive WhatsApp messages and listening to them,” she says.

As cases continue to pour in, Saraswathy says, “This is our agnipariksha (trial by fire), and we will not give up until the city, the state and the country are Corona free.”