KATHMANDU: Director of National Public Health Laboratory and Chief Pathologist Dr. Runa Jha has been included in the list of 5 women on COVID-19 response frontline readied by UN Women.
She and her team are testing roughly 70 samples a day, which arrive at irregular intervals and make for around-the-clock work.
“Staying late at the lab has become the norm. In addition to the technical work, I also have to manage logistics, such as arranging transportation and food for my team,” she told UN Women.
Taking care of her team is a high priority for Jha; it all begun in mid-February when her group was the first to enter a quarantine plant housing 175 Nepali students brought home from Wuhan, China.
“My team did not hesitate to volunteer to take samples… all of them were ready. We worked the whole night and produced 175 reports the following day,” she shares.
Months into the pandemic, the intense work continues. Jha does her best to support the workers and boost morale. “It is a very difficult time for us, and I have to keep them motivated. I talk to them whenever I sense they are feeling down. I tell them their safety is our priority,” she says.
The demands of the job have been challenging for Jha too. She’s living alone, separated from her daughter and husband because she fears to risk their lives with infection. She can’t visit her parents either, who she used to see three times a week.
“I want to hug my daughter and take care of my parents, but this sacrifice needs to be made to keep them and others safe,” Jha says.
UN Women field assistants Amal Al Mahayrah and Hadeel Dabaibeh from Jordan, Yan Shenglian from China, Dina Smailova from Kazakhstan and Ryancia Henry from the Caribbean have made it to the list.
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