57-year-old Telangana lab technician on mission to fix health system after recovering from COVID-19

HYDERABAD: Shining like a beacon in these gloomy times, a 57-year-old frontline Covid-19 warrior is building confidence among his coworkers after beating the highly contagious disease.

It has been close to 50 days since Kallem Kistaiah, a senior lab technician from Medchal, resumed duty, and he is back with greater zeal to strengthen the crumbling health system to fight the pandemic.

Kistaiah was one of the first frontline warriors to contract Covid-19 back in April.

“I was working at a quarantine centre in Rajendranagar. We used to collect samples, and pack and take them to Gandhi Hospital where it is entered into a database and renumbered. I must have got infected there,” the lab technician recounts.

A chronic diabetic and a hypertension patient, Kistaiah was apprehensive at first about making a clean recovery.

“In 17 days, I recovered fully and joined back duty in April itself. It’s been two-and-half months since I resumed work,” he says.

Lab technicians are one of the most exposed groups of frontline workers as their job is to collect nasal and throat swabs.

“Often people suffer from severe flu-like symptoms and cough. Even though we wear PPE kits, double masks and gloves, it is mentally exhausting,” Ravinder Manchala, founder and general secretary of the Telangana State Government Medical Lab Technicians Association, said.

Also, technicians in the rural areas of Telangana do not have the luxury of working in cubicles to shield themselves from contaminated droplets.

Often, they have to cover two-three PHCs due a staff crunch as rough estimates suggest that about 50%-60% posts remain vacant.

“We work round the clock to keep the people safe. I cannot deny that I fear getting infected again. But the service-to-people motive keeps us going. We will work to deliver results to the people at the earliest,” Kistaiah says.

As a precautionary measure, he and his colleagues get tested for Covid-19 every 14-20 days. The lab technicians demand a life-risk allowance and quarantine leaves in order to discharge their duties better.