Long hours, heavy workload leave TN frontline workers on COVID-19 duty gasping for breath Be it on the field or at healthcare institutions, frontline workers suffer due to long working hours, heavy workload and lack of adequate safety gear, putting their personal health at risk Share Via Email | A+A A- Frontline workers taking samples from a woman in a COVID-affected street in Vellore city (Express Photo | S Dinesh) Express News Service VELLORE: On a hectic evening, Uma*, a final year nursing student, was called for emergency duty at the COVID ward at the Govt Vellore Medical College Hospital (GVMCH). Anxiety gripped the 23-year-old as the pandemic had been snuffing out lives in quick time and she had never stepped into a COVID ward. It was going to be a new experience for her.