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Nepal

Covid19: Nepal Covid 19 and Flood Response Situation Report No.XXVII, as of 5 October 2020

Situation Report
Source
Posted
Originally published

National Context

  • The districts with COVID-19 active positive cases are 73 out of 77, with 554 deaths. According to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), age group of 86 per cent COVID-19 cases ranged from 11 to 50; 73 per cent cases are men.

  • The Government of Nepal (GoN) has lifted most of the lockdown from 17 September 2020; places or institutions with potential for high intensity transmission (schools, colleges, seminars, trainings, workshops, cinema hall, party palace, dance bar, swimming pool, religious places, etc.) will remain closed until further notice.

  • The MoHP on 4 October urged the general public to stay where they are and celebrate the upcoming Dashian and Tihar festivals. Earlier on 3 October, MoHP had asked the general public to visit the Kathmandu Valley only in case of emergency.
    The Ministry has been urging the public to avoid unnecessary travel as the country has been hit hard by COVID-19.

  • A total of 57 designated COVID-19 laboratories are now functional in the country, of which 40 are government and 17 are private (MoHP, SITREP #237).

  • The Supreme Court (SC) of Nepal issued mandamus order on 2 October in the name of MoHP to conduct PCR test for COVID-19 free of cost to save people’s lives from the pandemic, in recognition of primary healthcare services as the fundamental rights of the citizens as envisaged in the Constitution of Nepal.

  • The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has issued protocols for tourists travelling to the country for mountaineering and trekking. As per the protocols issued on 30 September, foreigners have to stay in quarantine for seven days. However, mountaineering and trekking agencies have criticised the latest guidelines as being ‘harsh’ which would discourage travellers from visiting Nepal and have demanded that the protocols be amended.

  • According to the MoHP, more than 50 per cent of the COVID-19 patients are staying in home isolation in Nepal. The MoHP has prioritised home isolation over hospitals for the asymptomatic and symptomatic COVID-19 patients owing to the burden to hospitals and health care system.

  • Heavy rainfall that triggered flooding and landslides across Nepal, led to 367 deaths, 100 missing, 324 injured, and affected 1250 families (12 June - 5 October, 2020, NDRRMA).

  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD40 million concessional loan and a USD10 million project grant to help manage and mitigate flooding in Nepal’s Terai Region (ADB News Release, 29 September, 2020)

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