A BIKER group are picking up test swabs of potential ­Covid-19 cases and driving them across the country to ­Ireland’s only exam centre to help the HSE fight the killer infection.

Meanwhile, the Blood Bikes group have been asked to help transport tests from potential Coronavirus patients across the country to the National Virus Reference Lab in Dublin.

2 Feilim Mac Criosta of Blood Bikes

2 Blood bikes are helping transport swabs

The Blood Bikes riders pick up the samples from hospitals in the middle of the night and race them across to the test centre — and do it all free of charge.

The charity organisation usually helps transport blood donations or donor breast milk for sick children but have now turned their expertise to Ireland’s battle against Covid-19.

Speaking to the Irish Sun, Blood Bikes rider Feilim Mac Criosta said: “We’ve been briefed on everything with the virus. The samples are locked in a box. It doesn’t actually say on the box what it is but the drivers would know.

“We do one run a night from around 1am from Portlaoise to Dublin with the Covid-19.

BOOKED OUT

"We have the next three weeks booked out with it. We will have a driver going three times a week to Dublin with tests. So that’s nine drivers going across.

“We’re there to help out the hospitals. We don’t get funding or anything. The money that we save them they can go and use on other things that are needed.

“A lot of our volunteers are retired or they have a full-time job somewhere else. I’m an electrician and we’ve also got school teachers, gardai, soldiers, carpenters, painters, you name it.”

The organisation currently has around 130 volunteers with seven specialist motorbikes and are funded by donations, corporate sponsors and bucket collections.

LAW CHANGE CALL

Currently, no motorbike is allowed to drive in bus lanes with these Blood Bike drivers trained to weave in and out of traffic to get to hospitals in a hurry.

Sinn Fein’s Aengus O’Snodaigh previously pressed the Department of Transport to try and get the laws changed — but his move was shot down.

Deputy O’Snodaigh told the Irish Sun: “I asked Shane Ross to make that change before but he said he wasn’t going to make any change. But I’ll bring it back up again in the future.”

The Blood Bike charity has a running cost of around €70,000 a year.

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The volunteer service runs 365 days a year including Christmas Day with good Samaritans fundraising, driving and answering requests at the call centre.

The skilled riders have received specialist training and must obtain the highest motorcycle license in the State in order to drive for the service.

They also have two vans which they use for larger deliveries to hospitals or medical centres.