SwabDogsOfInstagram–an Instagram account to provide light relief in these times

Articles

The Swab Dogs Instagram Account Is the Too-Pure Antidote to Covid – And What Lockdown Melbourne Needs Right Now (broadsheet.com.au)

CUTE! Swab Dogs on Instagram – MamaMag

Meet the COVID-19 ‘swab dogs’ of Melbourne making everyone smile – ABC News

coronavirus victoria: ‘Swab dogs’ brighten testing days (9news.com.au)

Instagram account

Chipper (@swabdogsofinsta) • Instagram photos and videos

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Chipper (@swabdogsofinsta)

My Comments

As part of the ongoing effort to tackle the COVID-19 coronavirus plague, many a jurisdiction is setting up COVID-19 testing facilities around their cities and towns. These are to identify who has and hasn’t caught this virus so proper measures can be taken.

In most situations the tests being done are PCR-based tests that require a mucus sample to be taken from the patient’s nose and throat for analysis, with the results coming through by at the most 24 hours. An increasing number of these facilities are of the “drive-through” kind where the patients drive up to the facilities and the nurses take the swabs from the patients while they sit in their cars.

But staff at one such “pop-up” facility in Melbourne noticed that most of the patients coming through that site had a dog with them in their car. Typically patients did this due to the pet being a security blanket or simply to take the dog out in the car with them. As well the staff, who were working long days in full PPE clothing, found that the presence of these furry companions in the patients’ cars as something to lift their spirits.

One of the staff noticed this and asked patients if they can take photos of their canine companions then, when the patient agreed, they took the photos. These ended up on a special Instagram account which was effectively a “photo reel” of these dog and other animal pictures.

This has started to come popular with more staff at other drive-through COVID testing clinics contributing these images to the account’s photo roll especially as pop-up testing clinics relocated around the city. Even other drive-through testing sites around Australia and the rest of the world were contributing the pictures of their patients’ furry companions to this reel. Of course, being started in Australia, the “SwabDogsOfInsta” account features a few kelpies and Australian Cattle Dogs (Blue Heelers) as part of the montage.

The “SwabDogsOfInsta” ended up as a popular Instagram account to follow around the world with significant media coverage about it. People would leave various lovely comments about these dogs with some referencing the animal in the photo being similar to one they had at some point in their life journey. As well, these pictures come in to their own to cheer everyone up during these difficult times.

Even with the newer COVID Omicron variant doing the rounds and these drive-through testing clinics being “bogged” with many people seeking PCR-based swab tests, this reel is being built out with more of the dogs that are accompanying the many patients at the facilities.

If Instagram had the ability to work with screen-saver / automatic-wallpaper-changer software or electronic picture frames and has the ability to show particular accounts’ images on that kind of software or hardware, this could be the kind of account that would work well with such a setup.

But simply, it’s a good account to add to your Instagram “follow” collection if you are wanting something that takes your mind off difficult times.

Leave a Reply