Head of Covid testing lab predicts lockdown is coming as exhausted staff battle Omicron

I’m really proud of the work that we’ve achieved at BioGrad over the last 18 months, as we’ve been running our laboratories 24/7, 365 days a year, since June 2020.

Our ability to pivot to the ever-changing government demands is testament to all of our staff, who have enabled hundreds of thousands of students to return to education safely and thousands of people to enjoy well-deserved holidays during the summer.

It is safe to say that we are all well and truly exhausted with Covid fatigue hitting us hard. We were hoping for a slower Christmas and that is obviously not going to be the case now, with our staff and medical professionals across the country working around the clock throughout the festive period to fight the new Omicron variant.

Medical staff and those working behind the scene testing for Covid are exhausted as the pandemic enters its third year (SIPA USA/PA Images)

It is really disappointing to see that we are in the same position now that we were in going into Christmas 2020, and as we enter into 2022 there is still plenty of uncertainty in the air. To say we could not envisage this happening is an insult to all of the medical professionals who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic.

The only way now to stop 2022 being a repeat of 2020 is to instigate a robust and long-term testing strategy that is easy to follow and that doesn’t change on a weekly basis, which has been the case so far.

Moving into the new year, I have hopes that we can take the lessons learnt from previous years, and I urge the travel industry and the government to work closer with the science experts to help see us through to the end of the pandemic. We are predicting a lockdown in January, but I would hope to see the maintenance of stringent PCR testing throughout the next year to prevent any similar lockdowns next winter. PCR testing and competent full-genome sequencing enables us to influence and support future vaccine strategies.

The scientists and medical experts at BioGrad Laboratories will continue to work all day every day to support the health and well-being of our communities and we are looking forward to the opportunity to get back to carrying out further scientific research roles next year post-Covid.