Fahimeh Rahnama, 52, Kumeu

Laboratory scientist testing Covid-19 samples

Fahimeh Rahnama is in the midst of rapid intensification at her virology lab in Auckland Hospital — a team of 20-plus scientists trying to churn through up to 1000 Covid-19 test samples a day.

Rahnama is lead scientist for the Auckland Hospital reference team, one of several laboratory hubs around New Zealand testing human swab samples for Covid-19.

In weeks, her team has gone from 14, comprising experienced laboratory molecular scientists and technicians, to more than 20.

Rahnama has just taken her first day off, after working 12 straight.

“The last two weeks have been really long days, 10 to 12 hours,” Rahnama said. “This weekend, my manager said I had to take two days off before I go back to work.

“My family, I’m the only one who works. My family, to be honest, I don’t see them nowadays. I work so much that I come home and I go to bed. I’m in my own bubble.”

Rahnama says the level of forward planning in the lab is huge.

“Nothing goes as normal nowadays, the companies that were really reliable at delivering stuff to us, they just can’t do it any more, too much demand from around the world,” she says.

“People don’t have any idea how much work you have to do, it’s not just the testing.”

But in terms of the laboratory work and its proximity to Covid-19 samples, Rahnama is not fazed.

“I would say it’s minimal [risk]. People often ask me, ‘is it safe to work in the lab?’ And I say, ‘that’s the safest place to work’. We make sure we deactivate the virus before transferring it to any other part of the lab. Staff are more concerned about being infected in the community. In the lab, we are geared up and relatively safe.”