Nepal enters second phase of coronavirus, country at vulnerable state
Nepali nationals returning home from coronavirus hit India stuck at Indian side of the border river Mahakali, Far Western Province
By Our Reporter
With a case of local transmission in Dhangadhi, coronavirus has entered the second stage in Nepal, said experts.
By now Nepal has nine cases of COVID-19, and eight of them imported. One of them has already recovered and returned home, and eight are receiving treatment.
The ninth case was found in a 34-year old woman, the sister-in-law of one man with COVID-19.The man had returned Nepal from overseas and reached home in Dhangadhi.
Local transmission is risky and it can lead to rapid spread of the disease in the community.
However, there might be many cases among the people who returned home from India after the enforcement of lockdown in India and Nepal. Number of such returnees in western Nepal is estimated to be around 200,000 but Nepal has tested only 2000 people by now. Hence, there is a high risk of spread of the disease in Nepal. Only on Tuesday, testing began in all seven states and it will take time to test all suspected people.
The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has said that the lab test for COVID-19 had been started in 10 places across the seven states.
Spokesperson at MoHP Dr Bikash Devkota said that with the start of lab test at Dhulikhel Hospital, Bharatpur Hospital and Bhairahawa Hospital on Sunday, now the scope of lab test has reached ten different locations.
Dr Devkota informed that 107 coronavirus suspected patients were receiving treatment at isolation wards of various hospitals in seven states.
“Among them, 95 are receiving treatment outside the valley,” said Dr Devkota, adding that 9,168 returnees are being quarantined across the nation as of Monday.
The Nepal Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) has so far tested a little more than 2000 samples of COVID-19 suspected as of Tuesday.
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