locking down labs and setting up covid-19 testing facilities
aligned with our mission to advance the understanding and impact of microbiology, the society reached out to our community of microbiologists to share their experiences in responding to sars-cov-2. we aim to showcase the perspective of scientists during the covid-19 pandemic and the variety of roles adopted to mitigate the global crisis.
this case study is written by andrew martin, a laboratory technician from the university of salford, uk. he gives his perspective of how lockdown unfolded and how he used his time away from the lab to volunteer at the lighthouse covid-19 testing labs at alderley park.
at the beginning of the first lockdown, the technicians here at the university of salford and many other teaching institutions were asked to donate ppe supplies to the nhs. this included all our lab coats, gloves, safety glasses etc., which we drove to the manchester royal infirmary in our own cars. we received a request directly from 10 downing street for our abi 7500 fast qpcr machine. this was picked up by the army the very next day.
we spent a week preparing to lock down the building: freezing down cultures, unplugging equipment and devising rotas for the maintenance of liquid nitrogen stocks and the nmr. ultimately, we were told by our deputy manager to go home for the foreseeable future. within two weeks, we received an email from a recruitment agency asking for volunteers to work at the lighthouse covid-19 testing labs that were being set up at alderley park. with permission from the university, six of the technicians from the cockcroft building said “yes”. whilst viral testing was and is not part of our day-to-day work here, our laboratory skills and knowledge were directly applicable to the problem in hand. later, many phd and ex-students from university of salford joined us working at the labs.
after a week of sorting the necessary paperwork, a couple of logistical problems needed to be addressed. i needed to buy a car and a colleague needed to replace hers – quite a task during lockdown. as our applications were processed, we each attended assessments and a two-day induction process at the lighthouse labs. other volunteers arrived from all over the country, but all had a scientific background. they were generally a friendly group of people, so we chatted as we queued, obediently and socially distanced, before having our temperature scanned and being admitted for our shifts. those working on station one compared notes on back stiffness induced by long periods pipetting samples in the biosafety cabinets.
the scientist leading the labs had worked on ebola outbreaks in africa in the past, so was experienced in the setup of emergency testing stations. the testing process had been broken down into seven sections (zero to six). samples from all over the uk were delivered to station zero. this was initially done by the army, as were the logistical tasks of acquiring and distributing consumable supplies and reagents. it was a little unnerving to work in a building alongside military personnel in full working uniform – a very real reminder of the gravity of the situation.
i was assigned station four. the pace of the setup of the facility can be demonstrated by my baptism of fire: on the first shift i was shown what to do by the person who had designed the station, on the second day an evening shift was introduced, to which i was assigned (alone!) and by the third day i was training other members who joined the station four team. the system was changing daily as the processes were refined and capacity was rapidly increased, with matt hancock promising to deliver 100,000 tests per day by the end of april. indeed, the upper floor laboratories were still under construction as we began work on the ground floor. within the first week of working there the site output increased from 1,000 to 20,000 tests per day and by july 2021, the alderley site employed more than 700 staff and carried out up to 80,000 tests per day with automation streamlining the process and making it far less labour intensive.
i'm happy i volunteered at the lighthouse labs; there were perks such as a free lunch! by the end of july, we were asked to return to the university to get ready for the university year as the students returned from september. it was a very different year as everybody had to be socially distanced and work individually, which meant running a lot of labs twice. hopefully, soon we will be back to normal.
about the author
andrew martin is a laboratory technician from university of salford, uk, whose role requires skills in a range of techniques to support practical teaching and student projects.