It is unfortunate that we should continue to be so laid-back even when the virus has overwhelmed our entire health system
With the sharp rise in the number of fresh COV- ID-19 infections across the country, the government seems to have thrown up its hands in utter hopelessness to deal with the situation, drawing the ire of the people and the political parties at large.
With coronavirus infections showing no signs of abating anytime soon, the health system could very well collapse if the government does not act swiftly.
The Ministry of Health and Population has already said that it was impossible for hospitals to provide beds to all those needing hospitalisation. Since the last few days, more than 5,000 new COVID infections have been reported on a daily basis, a figure that is likely to keep doubling every few days. With the fast spread of the coronavirus in the community, it is only natural to see a rise in the number of patients under intensive care or needing ventilator support. From 173 people under intensive care on April 23, the number rose to 401on May 1, while those on ventilators increased from 57 to 110.
Just as worrisome is the steady increase in the number of deaths caused by the virus. From five deaths on April 23, the number increased seven-fold on April 29. According to doctors, during the second wave of the coronavirus, the severity of the infection has also increased, with more patients suffering from pneumonia. At the current rate of infection, experts believe Nepal could be seeing as many as 150 deaths every day very soon, which could invite a situation similar to that of India, where bodies are having to be cremated in parking lots. The situation is indeed critical and calls on the government to take whatever measures necessary so that those needing treatment are not left in the lurch.
On Sunday, Minister for Health Hridesh Tripathi, following an emergency meeting at the ministry, said that a thousand beds would be added in the capital, where nearly half of all new infections are being recorded. The government must act on a war footing to realise this decision. The government could also rope in the private hospitals, especially the teaching hospitals of medical colleges, which would make available thousands of the much-needed hospital beds and other facilities such as ventilators and ICU beds. COVID patients should be allowed to undergo treatment in private hospitals, with the government footing the bill. While the government must add the beds as soon as possible, it is just as necessary to execute the prohibitory orders even more strictly. It is inexcusable that more than 1,200 vehicles, including government ones, had to be impounded by the traffic police on Saturday for violating the prohibitory orders. Also, as recommended by the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre on Friday, it would be prudent to close down more border points with India, halt private construction works and reduce the staff numbers to a quarter in the government offices and financial institutions. The agony that India is facing should have impelled the public to be dead serious and follow the health protocols strictly. It is unfortunate that we should continue to be so laid-back about it all even when the virus has overwhelmed our entire health system.
Uphold locals' rights
The European Investment Bank (EIB), which has agreed to provide a 100-million Euro loan to expand Nepal's power transmission grid and 140-MW reservoir-based Tanahun Hydropower Project, recently agreed to address the gaps while implementing the two projects, handing a rare victory to indigenous groups and communities, who feared being uprooted from their lands. Some civil society members had lodged a complaint with the EIB, pointing to the flaws in the environmental and social impact analysis of the Marshyangdi Corridor Transmission Line.
They said that the project failed to consult the communities and obtain their informed consent.
When clean and renewable energy, notably a hydropower project in Nepal's context, is developed, the genuine concerns of the rural people are ignored in the guise of development. Hundreds of families lose their ancestral lands when such projects are developed.
They are displaced from their villages as the concerned authorities, who are assigned to carryout the environmental impact studies, hardly pay heed to the hardships that the locals will have to face. As the EIB has agreed to address their plight, it is hoped that their problems will be solved amicably.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 3, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
