He's been home once in 15 days.

And when he does get home, he has to stay away from his wife and four little kids.

I was given photos of Dr. Roberto Vargas and his beautiful family. The photos show a time when they could put their arms around each other and before the coronavirus pandemic kept Dr. Vargas at work non-stop.

Tuesday I spoke with Dr. Vargas and his lab partner, Dr. Dawn Riedy on Skype.

Dr. Dawn Riedy, Rochester Regional Health: "So Roberto is very humble. But this past Saturday was the first time in 15 days that he saw his family."

Brean: "And what was that like?"

Dr. Roberto Vargas, Rochester Regional Health: "It was wonderful. It was wonderful. I stand at the bottom of the stairs. They stand at the top. It is wonderful to see them and hear them."

Did you catch that? Dr. Vargas stands at the bottom of the stairs in his basement where he sleeps and his children stand at the top. That's as close as they can get.

Brean: "I would be, I would be a mess if I went that long without seeing my family."

Dr. Roberto Vargas: "It's not easy. It's not easy at all. But we have to do it. This is what we have to do to take care of our patients and our community. We are not often called to this duty but when we are called we respond to this call."

Dr. Vargas had a birthday last week. He stood on the front lawn while his children sang happy birthday from the window.

He is managing and overseeing dozens of coronavirus tests every day inside the RGH lab. He has to personally inspect each test. Near the end of our interview, he thanked his wife Susan.

Dr. Roberto Vargas: "So I can't wait to actually see her and my kids and hug them again."

Brean: "That's beautiful. When do you think you will be able to do that?"

Vargas: "I don't know."

Riedy: "Hug them again?"

Brean: "Yeah."

Riedy: "I don't know."

Vargas: "I don't know."