This was published 4 years ago
Inside a COVID-19 test lab, where negative results are positive news
By Kate Aubusson and Louise Kennerley
On the sixth floor of St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst, thick red tape marks the threshold of Greg Granger’s office – a visual cue to anyone who might forget the strict spatial-distancing protocols.
The director of operations for St Vincent's Hospital pathology unit SydPath works 12- to 16-hour days. He stays at a hotel during the week and at weekends he works from his home in the Sutherland Shire so he can spend time with his three-year-old daughter, Peyton.
"Our time together is pretty limited and we keep it outside and no sloppy kisses," he said.
"It’s just too risky … If I’m the one who brings [COVID-19] into [the lab] there would be hell to pay."
Mr Granger inherited from his predecessor two large laminated maps of Sydney and NSW. Whiteboard markers have circled the SydPath’s testing sites, including the newest clinic at the East Sydney Community and Arts Centre.
The imperative was to move testing away from the hospital to separate potentially infectious people from the seriously ill and immuno-compromised, particularly cancer and transplant patients, Mr Granger said.
The Arts Centre is a good fit. Just six blocks away from the nun-founded St Vincent’s Hospital, it played host to the performing arts collective The Flying Nun before live theatre was banned under the state’s social-distancing laws. Now healthcare workers populate the foyer wearing personal protective equipment more conservative than a habit.
From behind the face masks, the nurses look apologetic as they explain the swab would be unpleasant, but only for a few seconds.
"You might sneeze or splutter or your eyes might water but then it’s all over," one of the nurses said.
Rona Dobrin, 75, was unflappable.
"I’ve had worse. I’m used to things shoved up my nose," Mrs Dobrin said, recalling procedures to have a polyp removed from her nasal canal. "It’s just two seconds of your life, and it could save your life."
Mrs Dobrin and her husband Michael, 82, presented at the clinic on Friday morning for their second COVID-19 test. The Bellevue Hill couple were among the more than 400 passengers who disembarked at Circular Quay on March 19. A month later, they wanted to make sure they had cleared the virus.
The Dobrins’ swabs were sent by courier to SydPath in the late morning. By 6pm, their phones pinged with matching texts confirming their results.
"Negative!" Mrs Dobrin said. Two days later, they were tested again. "Two negatives! That’s great news!"