Biking for the Cause
The emergency voluntary service Devon Freewheelers have decided to help NHS workers by collecting COVID-19 test samples from the homes of people in isolation and delivering them to Pathology labs where they can be tested and results determined in as little as three hours.
The Devon Freewheelers usually do deliveries like organ transport for transplants, blood transfusion delivers, and more, but right now they’re doing this work to combat the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak in the UK, according to MoreBikes. Many NHS staff have been quarantined due to symptoms, and being able to get tested quickly will allow them to get back to work sooner.
“Some NHS staff are not able to access tests themselves so they are having to isolate at home, we saw this as an opportunity to help and so we have taken on the responsibility of providing the testing for all of those staff and their families as well. Some of the highest priority members of the NHS team, for example, ICU nurses, might be isolating at home because their child is ill and symptomatic of COVID-19. They can’t return to work. So we are going out into the community and doing a doorstep COVID-19 test, taking them straight to the Path lab as a priority and then they are processing the test within 3hrs,” said CEO of Devon Freewheelers, Daniel Lavery.
The riders of Devon Freewheelers are running recently acquired, second-hand Kawasaki 1400GTR motorcycles. These motorcycles came from Wigan Kawasaki and sport an obvious emergency vehicle livery that’s highly visible. It’s fantastic to see motorcycles being used as part of the solution, and I commend these riders for their work.