Health workers and authorities in Nepal are struggling to contain a massive surge of COVID-19 cases as infections spill over from neighbouring India's deadly second wave.
Nepal shut down almost all flights this week and has imposed lockdowns or partial lockdowns in 80 per cent of its districtsIn the past three weeks, Nepal's daily case trajectory has shot up, with two out of five people tested now returning positive. On Thursday, Nepal reported 9,023 cases, the highest single-day increase.
"We can manage the oxygen supplies but ventilators and ICU facilities required for the treatment of severe cases are in short supply."Nepal shares a 1,850-kilometre open border with India, and communities commonly travel across it for work and to visit family. Many are now returning home. "I cannot say how difficult it was. We have found a bed now but we are searching for Remdesivir vials. We are exhausted," Mr Pandey said.
The country's tourism industry suffered a devastating blow in 2020, and this year climbers at its big money-spinner Mount Everest have tested positive, raising fears the virus may ruin a hoped-for bumper season on the world's highest mountain.Nepal currently has the highest effective reproduction rate — 1.79 — which shows how many others one infected person is infecting.
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