What does the life of the person who is responsible for testing coronavirus samples in Gaza look like?
“When I drive my car in the early morning I don’t know when I will go back home, for more than 18 days I didn’t share a single meal with my family, I miss them a lot.” these were the words of the official responsible for examining the coronaviruses samples in the central laboratory in Gaza, Hani al-Muqayed, “my whole life has changed since we started testing the samples.
Al-Muqayed a father of four, the eldest in high school, says that his life changed a lot, so he was unable to see his children.
“They are proud of me,” he said ” but after a few samples tested positive for coronavirus they became more cautious in dealing with me” al-Muqayed added.
In the specially designed isolation room for testing coronavirus samples, Al- Muqayad and his team work with the maximum degree of cautiousness since there is no room for error. Testing coronavirus samples are classified as highly contagious, and the technical staff may be vulnerable to infection if they do not strictly follow the instructions. The lap conducts dozens and sometimes hundreds of samples that brought to make sure that they are negative.
It should be noted that laboratory medical cadres working in Gaza and others like health cadres working in the besieged sector for 14 years are suffering from poor economic conditions where the health staff did not receive his full salary for years.