'I Work As An NHS Nurse In UK, But It Took Four Days For Me To Get A COVID-19 Test, Which Was Positive'

The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK is one of the biggest publicly funded healthcare systems in the world and employs around 1.2 million people in England including doctors, nurses and other support staff.

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As the UK battles the COVID-19 outbreak, the NHS like any other medical facility in the world has been stretched beyond its limits. The UK currently is one of the worst COVID-19 affected countries in the world and it is only getting worse.

And one particular challenge the NHS is facing during the outbreak is the whooping number of its staff getting infected with COVID-19. At a time when they are the most needed, one in four NHS staff including doctors and nurses are off work with suspected symptoms of COVID-19, while over 2000 of them have already been tested positive and four doctors with a migrant background and nearly half a dozen nurses, who are also from migrant background have died.

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Among the over 2000 who have been tested positive are also from migrant backgrounds, mostly from Asia and Africa.

One of them, a male nurse from India spoke to Indiatimes on the condition of anonymity about what he and his colleagues have been going through.

"The number of NHS nurses and doctors who have tested positive for COVID-19 is a farce. The real numbers are much higher, but that will never come out as there is hardly any tests being carried out for the staff," the nurse who has more than a decade's work experience around the world said.

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When asked about their working conditions, he said there was nothing to safeguard them from getting infected.

"Personal protective equipment here is a joke. All that we had for the past three weeks that I have been attending COVID-19 patients were plastic aprons and surgical masks. Initially, we were told to use the masks only if the patient was sneezing. Now I think it has changed," he said.

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He also alleged that the UK's medical infrastructure was severely underprepared for the epidemic outbreak and that has cost the country dearly.

"There were no preparations, at least at the hospital level as far as I know and then one fine day we started getting patients with suspected COVID-19 symptoms. There were 16 COVID-19 patients at one isolation facility in my hospital, and there was just one ventilator," he said.

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Speaking about him contracting the virus, he said it was just a matter of when and not if. "All of us knew that this is going to happen one day - we will also contract the virus. You can delay the inevitable for some time with plastic bags and reusing surgical masks. But you will eventually run out of luck one day. For some, it came early and I hope that at least now the authorities wake up and increase the tests on NHS staff before it is too late," he said.

Despite the Boris Johnson government's promise to step up the screening for NHS staff, he said it took him four days after the started showing the symptoms to get a COVID-19 test.

"I had been exposed to COVID-19 for nearly three weeks. Last Friday I started showing symptoms like cough, fever and body pain. Instinctively I knew what has happened and I called up the NHS Helpline. I was told that I have to wait for four days before I can give my samples for testing. And on Wednesday I finally gave my samples and there were no surprises - I was COVID-19 positive," he said.

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After he tested positive, he has been asked to remain in home isolation where he lives with his wife, who is also an NHS nurse and their two children. Luckily for the family, the other three members have not shown any signs of the infection yet.

"I have been asked to remain home while I recover. All that I have in the name of medicine is paracetamol that too, only if it is necessary. I have been asked to call the NHS helpline if the symptoms are getting worse," he said. When asked about how it feels, he said: "Other than the occasional discomfort, it feels pretty normal. Maybe because it is Chinese, it is not that effective, I think."

He then broke into a laughter, followed by coughing, and at this point, I asked him to disconnect the phone and take rest.