HEALTHCARE HEROES by Anuj Khemka
Senior Teja Valluri and junior Vivi Rao assist healthcare workers during the pandemic
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frenzy of patients, desperate to get treatments and diagnoses. Groups of doctors, clothed in faceshields, gloves, and extra-protective scrubs. Medical receptionists, ever wary of the spreading virus, seated behind large glass dividers. Such is the scene of healthcare offices around the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst it all, senior Teja Valluri and junior Vivi Rao have continued to work in a healthcare setting, persevering to provide patients the care they need. Valluri serves as an assistant to his aunt, a physician at INOVA hospital, while Rao works as a medical assistant for her mother’s practice.
CONCERNS AND CAUTIONS While not overwhelming, the fear of contracting and spreading COVID-19 was certainly on Valluri and Rao’s minds and remains ever present today. “[I was worried about contracting
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COVID], but the fear of COVID underweighed the experience and the interest I had in working at the job,” Valluri said. For Valluri, concerns over COVID-19 came to a head when in October, his entire family contracted the virus. “I was worried [that I caused my family to get COVID-19], but it turned out to not be because of the job,” Valluri said. “[Even if it had been] I think I would have still gone back, I think they would have understood [how it’s part of the job] and they would have been fine with it.” Despite the inherent dangers associated with working in healthcare during the pandemic, Rao and Valluri maintain that precautionary measures within their offices vastly reduce the risk of contracting COVID. “Being in a family of doctors, we have resources like protective gear and supplies, we have high-quality masks already on hand, and we have disinfectants,” Rao said. “Being in a doctor’s office is really sanitary too compared to like a lot of other places, so I feel like the fear of getting COVID was there, but it was kind of on the same level as a lot of other people.” Rao and Valluri are now both vaccinated, but they continue to exercise caution in regards to the pandemic. “Just because we’re vaccinated doesn’t mean we can’t spread it to other people potentially. Especially since COVID is airborne, [if] you come into contact with