Meet Atif keeping track of Covid’s second wave on track and trace

Here, one of the self-isolated women was diagnosed as virus-positive by talking to some medical professionals behind a very valuable service and hearing a friend’s voice.

“Without this service, we wouldn’t know that so many people were at risk.”

At first it looked like a routine case-someone tested positive for coronaviruses and Atif Hussain was trying to establish who they contacted.

But then the conversation suddenly became more serious. “

Two weeks ago, NHS Clinical Contact Case Workers revealed that they had sore throat for 24-36 hours with very high temperatures. “But they didn’t think because they thought the coronavirus needed a cough.”

But 32-year-old Atif (usually an ophthalmologist) knew something else, and noticed that the person may have spread the virus for more than two weeks. The question – where?

“I asked what they did and realized they were working in a homeless shelter.”

The potential for harm was so great that Atif immediately alerted his boss, who closed and sterilized the shelter, and warned everyone connected to it to be tested. Without NHS Test and Trace, Atif believes it has never noticed a potential danger.

“Without the telephone service, we wouldn’t have been able to identify that the person might have unknowingly endangered others. They didn’t think their symptoms were serious. However, as a medical professional, we know that there are many different symptoms.

Helping and preventing the second wave of infections was one of the reasons Atif in Rochdale registered.

“I thought I could use my skills. On a daily basis, I have to deal with just as serious a thing. This means that you have to let someone know that you will be unable to drive or lose your eyesight, so you can comfortably make difficult conversions. “

After about a week of training, Atif started a new job in mid-May.

“I had a lot of interesting cases, there can never be two same calls,” he says. “I noticed that the service offers a lot more than just contact tracking. We were able to help people in a variety of ways.”

Much of the call can be spent to make sure the infected person is okay and advise on available support. “For many, we’re the first places they visit after being tested, so they ask a lot of questions about what they can and cannot do, or concerns about their families.”

Atif uses “memory jogging” technology to help you remember what you’ve done, such as checking receipts and social media posts.

His mind may sink if someone unknowingly has infected many others, but that is the support he can provide, and that’s what makes the most sense.

“Not just contact traces”

When Sarah Hartle got a dental hygienist qualification earlier this year as a result of two years of hard work, it would have been a whole new career for her.

But it wasn’t. A 34-year-old woman found the good news on March 23 (the day the British were blocked), so all her potential jobs were exhausted.

Sarah from Manchester says. “Then, a professional dentist’s association sent an email asking medical professionals to join the virtual front line.”

That’s why she signed up as an NHS test and Trace Clinical Contact Caseworker and called people who were diagnosed with a coronavirus.

“There is no typical day,” says Sarah, who works an eight-hour shift. “They are all very different and need different kinds of help.

One of my first cases was a poor mother, who had the coronavirus in the whole family. She was symptomatic and tested positive on all others: father, infant, baby. Her partner couldn’t get out of bed because he was so sick that the whole family struggled.

“She was convinced that they gave it to all of them, and she felt very sick about it. She was very emotional and needed support.

“I told her it was okay if the whole family didn’t eat properly – and it was okay during this period just to grab something to keep them going.”

Sarah soon learned not only to track human contact, but also to provide practical and emotional support.

The old lady, who lived alone, had to get up from bed and took about 10 minutes to answer the phone. I thought we might have to call an ambulance because she was so out of breath and coughing when she finally did.

Thankfully, I needed a sympathetic ear, but not one.

“She wouldn’t have been able to get the virus because she wasn’t anywhere else,” says Sarah. “Our call was much more reassuring to her that everything would be fine.

“It’s like when you really know that you are really making a difference in this role.”

Sarah also needed to support a new mom who had a positive coronavirus test shortly before childbirth, and another woman who felt better and wanted to call her every day. “To play this role turned to what’s happening. When you hear the suffering at home it really hits the home. It’s with you.

“But I know what I’m doing is a valuable job, and I enjoy being able to help.”

“The contract tracer was friendly and reassuring.”

While preparing dinner in the evening of May, when Emily heard the phone ring, she didn’t know how it would affect her life.

The NHS Test and Trace sender said he had asked a 25-year-old event manager to contact someone recently infected with the coronavirus and quarantine himself for two weeks.

“I was particularly sensible and shocked because I followed the government’s guidelines on social distance,” says Emily. “But the contact tracer was professional, friendly, reassuring and reassured me.”

They will not tell her the name of the infected-the service is confidential-they experienced symptoms that she should keep an eye on, which is a new, continuous cough, fever or loss of taste or smell. Including

“I later said that a friend I had a picnic with in the park a few days ago-sitting two meters away-she said she was diagnosed with a virus and gave me my details,” Emily said.

Living alone in London, she found it difficult to isolate herself. “I suffer from anxiety, so I was both worried about the onset of the coronavirus and being alone for 14 days.

“My family and friends delivered groceries to the door, checked my health with daily video calls and suggested new hobbies. I couldn’t do without them. Let’s

‘Having a routine also helped. I woke up every morning and did some exercises, from Joe Wicks to YouTube yoga sessions. I have never been a fitter! I created a new recipe, made fresh bread and signed up for my first online course.

“A few days after my first call, I received text from NHS Test and Trace, which reminds me of the advice given and the importance of self-isolation. I reassured my contacts. “

Emily didn’t develop the coronavirus, and a friend who tested positive suffered mild symptoms and quickly recovered.

“We’re both isolated, so we can go on a picnic again, but we don’t share cutlery, plates, or food,” she says. I know how effective quarantine is in stopping the transmission of coronaviruses.

“While I was alone, I remembered doing my part and doing the right thing for the greater benefit. Like me, everybody has NHS tests and traces. The faster you play your part in, the quicker you can get back to normal.

“If you want, I want to do it again with a heartbeat.”

◼ This is UK Government information for UK only readers.