Lucknow: KGMU lab man hasn’t been home for seven months

LUCKNOW: It is unbelievable but true. Om Prakash, a lab technician and research scholar of the microbiology lab of KGMU, has not visited his home since January. He has been continuously conducting Covid 19 tests since then and now the lab has become his home and colleagues an extended family. In all, Om Prakash has conducted over 2.5 lakh tests under his supervision since January. After being set up in January, the lab was conducting 40-50 tests a day, but now the number has gone up to 4,000 tests per day. “I want to dedicate my life to the service of Covid patients by giving them timely results so that their treatment can be started on time,” remarked Om Prakash, who is in late 30s. “My wife and my one-year old daughter have been missing me badly as I have not visited home for about eight months now,” he added.
Devoted to Covid tests, Om Prakash has been working in a highly sensitive atmosphere where he has to break samples in different stages and than extract RNA and conduct the test.
‘Handled the first Covid +ve sample of my life on March 3’
The entire process takes over four hours and during this time he has to work in negative air pressure and without ACs as the Covid lab functions in chillers.
“I know working for long duration in chillers and negative room pressure is harmful, but I am used to it now. A new technician would not be able to cope up with it,” Om Prakash said and added that he was motivated by head of microbiology Dr Amita Jain with whom he has been working for over 11 years now.
Om Prakash said that in January when the test facility was started in the KGMU he used to receive samples from all over UP and also from Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. At that time the KGMU was the only university in the state to have BSL level three lab which is authorised to handle such samples, he said, adding that “on March 3 I had handled the first Covid 19 positive sample of my life. It was of a family from Agra.”
When asked when he would visit his family, he said: “I am enjoying my job. With God’s grace my family is fine. I want to devote my life for the well-being of people. I thank Dr Jain, medical education minister Suresh Khanna, ACS, medical education, Rajneesh Dubey and DG KK Gupta for allowing me to handle this challenging task.”
“Om Prakash is a real corona warrior and deserves special commendation,” Dubey told.