The building of Western Regional Health Laboratory is cordoned off by ropes encircling it. This is the place where the novel coronavirus is tested in Pokhara, the famous tourist city in western Nepal. Before the pandemic, the lab was open to all and it carried out all types of medical diagnostic tests.
The lab is Subhadra Dulal’s office, where she reaches around eight every morning, traveling 25 km. She leaves behind her daughter of 16 months and a son of 4 years with her in-laws. Initially, the in-laws did not know she conducted coronavirus tests; only her husband knew.
Dulal is not scared, unlike many others in her profession who are shirking their jobs over the safety of their own health. When the provincial government wanted to build a rapid response team to handle the Covid-19 pandemic, many of her colleagues refused to be a part.
“Even if I can isolate just one case, I save the family, the society, and the nation as a whole,” says Dulal with visible pride.
When APEX caught up with her outside the lab, she was in a hurry. Some swabs had already been collected for corona testing. Some were on the way. It would take several hours to finish the work. She had to rush back home to breastfeed her daughter.
During last year’s dengue epidemic, she had buried herself in the lab, testing hundreds of samples. In 2015, she was posted in Gorkha, when the earthquake struck. She was 8-month pregnant then. But that didn’t deter her from going out in the village and helping the people. For the graduate in medical lab technology and a government employee, nothing feels as good as giving back to the society.
Covid-19 testing is a serious job. When the provincial government first chose her for it, she felt excited but nervous at the same time. There were few safety measures in place. She went to Lekhnath Community Lions Hospital to get sample from one suspected patient, which was her first corona-related job.
“The first time, I was quite scared while taking the swab. When I reached home, I entered from the back door to avoid touching the kids. I took a shower before going near them,” she recalls. The sample tested negative for Covid-19.
Now her lab is better equipped and she doesn’t worry as much. “In the lab we have adequate personal protective equipment as well as well as a biosafety cabinet. If the virus somehow escapes into the lab, the machine kills them and prevents infection,” she says. The lab is currently operating with six technicians. The federal government has given a PCR machine that can conduct one test an hour. Another, older machine tests 72 samples an hour.
Dulal has always liked helping others, and took up medical technology of her own choice. “The provincial government thinks I can do this job. Many of my colleagues do not have that opportunity,” she says.
