According to The Kathmandu Post, Nepalese authorities are grappling to contain the rapid rise of Covid-19 cases fueled by the more infectious mutant strains emerging out of India. On April 26, Nepal recorded 3,442 new coronavirus infections in one day, a highest daily record in this year, writes the Post. “It took the total caseload since the pandemic first struck Nepal to 303,561, and there have so far been 3,176 deaths, according to government data.”

According to local The Himalayan, of the over 3.4K recently reported cases, 1,567 cases were from Kathmandu district, 223 from Lalitpur district and 122 cases from Bhaktapur district.

Krishna Prasad Paudel, the director of Nepal’s Epidemiology and Disease Control Department, reportedly told Reuters,”We have detected the UK variant and the double mutant variant detected in India”.

Former king Gyanendra and his wife, who reportedly visited the Kumbh Mela in India, were tested positive for coronavirus after returning from the trip and were undergoing treatment at a private facility in Kathmandu.

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COVID Vaccination in Nepal

According to Reuters News: “Nepal launched its vaccination campaign in January and gave shots to 1.9 million people, all provided by India and China. But health experts feared that continuation of the vaccination drive was uncertain after officials had failed to procure more vaccine shots from India or any other source.”

The virus is mutating very fast…what started in India has now entered Nepal too.

Rabindra Pandey, a public health expert (source: The Kathmandu Post)

Hospitals in Kathmandu were running thin due to reported new cases and new patients were unable to find any hospital beds, reports The Post. Dr Prakash Thapa of Bheri Hospital in Nepalgunj, told reporters “The situation is really frightening. … This time even children and young people are brought in critical condition and patients are even sleeping on the floor and corridors.”

According to The Associated Press, while government shots have been provided to people for free, private hospitals have charged around $3, or 250 rupees per shot.

An Unmanageable Situation

According to The Hill blog, Nepal Health Ministry has issued a statement stating that the coronavirus situation in the country has become unmanageable. “As the number of infections has been increasing, the health system is not able to cope and a situation has already arisen in which hospital beds cannot be made available,” the statement read. 

Citing the New York Times, the Hill writes “Nepal had signed an agreement for an additional 2 million shots from the Serum Institute of India, but as of Saturday, just 380,000 of the roughly 1.7 million people in Nepal who have been vaccinated have received their second dose”.