4 April 2020

Key points

  • The background: a news report of 1 April 2020, in which a 40-day-old baby was infected after being held by a relative who had a confirmed case of COVID-19.
  • The centre had recently launched its home vaccination service. To ease parents’ worry about the health of the staff who visit, every member of staff takes a COVID-19 rapid test regularly, so that no one arriving at your home is infected.
  • The rapid test is simple: one drop of blood, and the result is known within 10 minutes.
  • The kit holds two sample collectors. IgM shows infection within the past 3 to 7 days; IgG stays at a high concentration in the body for years, so after 7 days it still shows whether the virus was caught.
  • The steps: sanitise the finger with an alcohol swab, prick it, wipe away the first drop of blood with cotton, draw a further drop with the pipette, mix it with the diluent, place it in the sample wells, and wait about 10 minutes.
  • Reading it: one line at “C” means the test is valid; a second line at “T” means infected. A negative result is about 99% accurate.
  • Staff take the test regularly and repeatedly, in the hope that seeing it gives parents greater peace of mind.