Covid crisis reaches Nepal with a surge in cases and hospitalizations

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Thousands of new daily cases are overloading an already fragile health care system that lacks enough ventilators, oxygen and doctors to care for the sick.

Cases have been exploding in the country over the last few weeks. On Friday, the World Health Organization’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed worry about the unfolding crisis.

The positivity rate is now at 45 percent, with nearly 9,000 new cases daily, an increase of about 3,000 percent from last month, according to Our World in Data, a research group. Deaths are rising sharply, too. In April, five deaths were reported per day. The most recent seven-day average had risen to 174 deaths per day.Nepal Pixwarned that all travelers should avoid Nepal and a lockdown was extended in the Kathmandu valley until May 27.

Getman said Nepal is expecting as many as 400,000 seasonal workers to return from India over the next few weeks. But Nepal doesn’t have enough Covid-19 test kits to screen everyone crossing into the country. In fact, at one of the busiest border points in Kailali, there are only enough kits to test 250 people each day. So just those who have symptoms are getting tested.

The surging cases are overloading an already fragile health care system that doesn’t have enough ventilators, oxygen or even doctors to take care of the sick. In Nepal, there are just eight doctors for every 10,000 people. The United States has more than three times that number, according to the WHO.

 

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