Focused COVID-19 Media Monitoring, Nepal

Focused COVID-19 Media Monitoring Nepal1

-Sharpening the COVID-19 Response through Communications Intelligence Date: June 21, 2021 Kathmandu, Nepal EMERGING THEME(S)

• Nepal recorded 1,421 new COVID-19 cases, 51 deaths on June 20; no one who has taken both doses of COVID-19 vaccine has died of the infection, none who were infected have been critically ill, according to health officials; overall COVID-19 infection rate decreasing in country and Tarai, but rising in hill districts; number of infections have shown a dip as the number of tests have gone down • COVID-19 deaths in second wave hotspot Parsa has come down to zero, no coronavirus fatality recorded since June 15; Nepal has facility to identify only the Alpha variant of COVID-19 • European Union not to give COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal directly, will share the jabs only through COVAX; government officials claim vaccine through COVAX will arrive within two weeks; Nepal desperately needs COVID-19 vaccines, will have good news about vaccines in a couple days, says Health Minister Sher Bahadur Tamang • China’s Sinopharm will provide 4 million doses of Vero Cell in next 2.5 months; government has okayed buying doses worth not over Rs 4,500,000,000 in first phase; China has expressed displeasure over Nepal talking about the vaccine deal • Many Bajhang villagers refuse to undergo COVID-19 test for fear of testing positive and missing out on the planting season; Melamchi flood displaced say no to Antigen Test for fear of being separated from families in camps if tested positive • People visiting Rolpa Hospital in need of COVID-19 counseling, showing symptoms of anxiety brought on by pandemic and prohibitory orders; problems of post-COVID-19 syndrome seen in many recovered patients in Lumbini Province • Around 30 to 40 poorer countries have suspended their COVID-19 vaccination drives due to lack of doses, says World Health Organization’s COVAX frontman

1 This intelligence is tracked through manually monitoring national print, digital and online media through a representative sample selection, and consultations with media persons and media influencers.

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RECURRING THEME(S)

• Prohibitory orders in Kathmandu Valley extended till June 28 with some relaxations in place, private vehicles and taxis to ply on odd-even rule basis, shops allowed to be reopened on certain days; prohibition extended in Gorkha, Syangja, Makwanpur; Gulmi business body mandates compulsory Antigen Tests for Tamghas traders to reopen shops; Valley eateries start food delivery service • No relief package yet for the urban poor who have lost their livelihoods to the lockdown

ISSUE(S) IN FOCUS

Nepal recorded 1,421 new COVID-19 cases on June 20, and 51 deaths taking the total death toll to 8,726. Nepal's COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 89.6 per cent, while the fatality rate stands at 1.5 per cent.2 Health officials have said none of the healthy persons who have taken both doses of COVID-19 vaccine have died due to the COVID-19 infection. Only a few people who had taken both doses showed symptoms of COVID-19. Even those who had taken only one dose of COVID-19 vaccine were not critically ill due to the infection. However, there has been no separate study on the people who have taken both doses of COVID-19 in the country.3 The overall COVID-19 infection is decreasing in the country, and in the Tarai region. However, the cases are increasing in the hill districts. More than 500 COVID-19 infected patients of the four hill districts of Sudurpaschim Province — Dadeldhura, Baitadi, Doti, and Achham — are undergoing treatment at present, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. The cases of infections are also increasing in Udayapur, Sankhuwasabha, Okhaldhunga, Panchthar, and Khotang of Province 1. Almost all districts of Bagmati Province have more than 500 cases of infection. Kaski, Gorkha, Tanahun, and Baglung of Gandaki Province too have more than 500 cases of infection. There are six districts — Dhanusha, Parsa, Bara, Mahottari,

2 THT Online 3 Kantipur

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Siraha, and Saptari — in Province 2 with more than 500 cases of infection. Dailekh and Surkhet of Karnali Province have more than 500 cases of infection. However , the cases of infection have decreased in Province 2.4 On June 19, for the first time during the ongoing second wave of the pandemic that began in mid-April, a district other than Kathmandu reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases on a single day. While 201 new cases were reported in Kathmandu, the figure was 225 for Baglung. The daily number of total cases in the country has been coming down gradually. However, this is also because the number of tests is coming down, according to doctors. From 22,353 PCR tests on May 21, test numbers have been declining and 7,010 were reported on June 19. When we increase the testing, the number of infected also increases, according to Dr Achyut Raj Karki, the COVID-19 focal person at Bir Hospital.5 The number of new cases and people recovering from COVID-19 is increasing in the Valley, while the pressure of COVID-19 infected patients requiring ICU and ventilator support is decreasing in Nepal. The recovery rate was 89.30 per cent on June 19, which was 74.4 per cent on May 15. The number of critically ill patients requiring hospitalization has also reduced by more than 50 per cent, according to Dr Krishna Prasad Paudel, Spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP). Out of 427 ICU beds in 16 hospitals of Kathmandu, only 253 are in use. Likewise, only 96 ventilators out of 201 are being used. However, the cases of infection are increasing outside of the Kathmandu Valley, as per MoHP.6 The Ministry of Health and Population has started the preparation for containment of the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic. According to Dr Prakash Budathoki, Senior Consultant at the Curative Service Division of the Ministry, they have started collecting the details of human resources, making of directives, preparing a list of medicine and equipment, requesting for procurement process, among others to fight the third wave of the pandemic.7

The death rate due to COVID-19 has come down to zero in Parsa district, one of the hotspots of COVID-19 infection in the second wave. The district has recorded no deaths due to COVID-19 since June 15.8 Among a dozen variants of COVID-19 that have spread across the world, Nepal has the facility to identify only one variant — the Alpha variant. Nepal has to rely on the labs of other countries to identify the remaining variants.9

4 Annapurna Post 5 The Kathmandu Post 6 Kantipur 7 Onlinekhabar 8 Annapurna Post

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The Ministry of Health and Population has clarified that it has not given permission for labs other than the government labs, labs in hospitals with at least 100 beds, and A-listed private labs, to do the PCR tests of people who are going abroad. 10

Nepal’s vaccine woes do not appear to be ending anytime soon, unless the international vaccine-sharing scheme — the COVAX facility — ensures enough doses. It has become apparent now that European countries are not going to provide COVID-19 vaccines directly, as they say they are sticking to their plan to share the jabs through COVAX. At least two diplomats of the European Union (EU) and Germany on June 17 indicated that Nepal would not get vaccines through any bilateral mechanism. Nepal has requested the EU as well as Denmark separately to supply vaccines, including the AstraZeneca type. Failure to acquire AstraZeneca vaccines immediately would mean depriving those 1.4 million people above 65 years of their second shots on time.11

Government officials have claimed that preparations are being made to bring the COVID-19 vaccine through COVAX within two weeks. If the vaccine arrives, it will be used to inoculate 1,364,701 senior citizens who have taken the first jab of the Covishield vaccine.12

The government had announced plans to bring 100,000,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine within a couple of months. However, neither has the vaccine arrived from anywhere nor has any country specified the dates of providing the vaccine to Nepal.13

Nepal has significantly reduced coronavirus infections after its worst outbreak, which overwhelmed the country’s medical system, but is in desperate need of vaccines, Minister for Health and Population Sher Bahadur Tamang said on June 17. Nepal launched a vaccination campaign in January but was forced to suspend it after India halted exports of domestically produced Covishield vaccines because of its own outbreak. China donated 800,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine in March and another 1 million earlier this month. Still only about 8.5 per cent of the population has received one shot, and about 2.5 per

9 Annapurna Post 10 Baarhakhari 11 The Kathmandu Post 12 Kantipur 13 Nagarik

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cent have been fully immunized. The main issue for us is vaccines, and unless we get vaccines, we cannot say everyone is safe, according to Tamang.14

Minister for Health and Population Sher Bahadur Tamang has claimed that the government has been in talks with vaccine- producing countries, and Nepal will get the vaccine soon. He said there will be good news about the COVID-19 vaccine in a couple of days but he refrained from sharing about the quantity of doses.15

It has been confirmed that the Chinese company Sinopharm will provide 4,000,000 doses of Vero Cell vaccine to Nepal in the next two-and-a-half months. However, there is no certainty of when the remaining 1,000,000 doses of vaccine that Nepal procured from the Serum Institute of India will arrive. The US, the UK and Russia have not replied to the letters sent by Nepal requesting for the vaccine. There has been a shortage of the second dose of vaccine for nearly 1,300,000 people who have taken the first dose.16

The government has given permission to buy Vero Cell vaccine worth not more than Rs 4,500,000,000 in the first phase. It was decided at the Cabinet meeting of June 14.17

From Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to Foreign Minister Raghubir Mahaseth to the Nepali Embassy in Beijing — all are giving statements about the Nepal government’s plan to buy 4 million doses of vaccine from China’s Sinopharm; but the Chinese do not seem to be happy. Multiple officials confirmed that China communicated its displeasure to Nepali agencies. The officials said that Sinopharm had communicated its displeasure at the publicization of vaccine procurement by the government of Nepal. Similarly, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu had also reminded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the nature of the deal.18

Most villagers in the rural municipality of Bittahdchir, Bajhang are refusing to undergo COVID-19 tests fearing the stigma

14 The Associated Press (in The Himalayan Times) 15 Setopati 16 Nayapatrika 17 Nayapatrika 18 The Kathmandu Post

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associated with the disease. The villagers cannot afford to miss the paddy planting season, say health workers. If they tested positive, they would have to go into isolation or to a hospital, according to Jayaraj Awasthi, a healthcare worker at the Primary Health Center. If they don’t work their fields, there will be nothing to harvest. The pandemic has threatened their lives and livelihood and it is difficult to convince them to undergo COVID-19 tests, he said.19

On June 18, the Primary Health Center Melamchi had planned to perform 600 Antigen Tests on the flood victims sheltering at the camps for the displaced at various places of the municipality. However, only five people agreed to undergo testing. Most of the victim families refused to undergo tests, according to Gyanendra Ghorasaini, Chief of the health center. The fear they would be separated from their family members in the event of testing positive for COVID-19, he said. Tests are not being performed in any of the camps for the displaced at Melamchi and Helambu, the two local units most affected by June 15’s Melamchi river floods, despite the high risk of COVID-19 outbreaks in such camps.20

People visiting the Rolpa Hospital are showing symptoms of anxiety. Most of the patients, who are the victims of the 10-year civil war of Nepal, are worried about dying if they get infected with COVID-19, as per Dr Aadhar Oli, at Rolpa Hospital. They are also worried about who will treat them if they get infected, and where to go for the treatment, he informed. These people are already suffering from a financial crisis due to the COVID-19 induced prohibitory orders, and the lack of counseling has added the burden of anxiety on them. People are visiting the hospital with complaints of insomnia, increased heartbeat, lack of appetite, as per the doctor who pointed out the need for counseling for this.21

The problems of post-COVID-19 symptoms are being seen in the patients who have recovered from COVID-19 in Lumbini Province. According to Dr Sudarshan Thapa, physician at Lumbini Provincial Hospital, such people are showing symptoms of fatigue, lack of energy, breathing difficulties, hot flashes, and long coughs. Six people who had recovered from the infection are undergoing treatment at Bheri Hospital of Nepalgunj after showing post-COVID-19 symptoms like insomnia, breathing

19 The Kathmandu Post 20 The Kathmandu Post 21 Nagarik

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difficulties and decline in oxygen level. The problems like long COVID and long fibrosis are causing depression in patients, as per Dr Rajan Pandey, physician at the hospital.22

The Ministry of Health and Population has advised people with underlying health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure to not to stop taking their regular medicines even when infected with COVID-19.23

A “huge number” of poorer countries have had to suspend their coronavirus vaccination programs due to a lack of doses, the World Health Organization said on June 18. “We have a huge number of countries that have had to suspend their rollout of their second doses of vaccine,” said Bruce Aylward, the WHO’s frontman for the international COVAX scheme which provides vaccine doses to poorer countries. “If I remember correctly, it’s over 30 or 40 countries that could have been targeted for second doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, for example, who will not be able to do that.” Countries around India, like Nepal and Sri Lanka, have been “particularly hit hard” and face “a severe wave of disease”, he added.24

PROHIBITORY ORDERS

The meeting of the Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur decided to extend the ongoing prohibitory orders till June 28 with certain relaxations in place. Private vehicles and taxis can be operated on the basis of odd-even rules. The shops selling different items will be allowed to open on certain days of the week.25

Preparations are being made to allow the readymade garment stores and other financial sectors to open with conditions in Kathmandu Valley. After consultation with the COVID-19 Crisis Management Center and Ministry of Home Affairs, the administrations of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur have decided to give continuity to the ongoing prohibitory orders while letting the fancy stores, shopping centers, stationeries, and utensil stores among others to reopen.26

22 Kantipur 23 Baarhakhari 24 Agence France Presse (in The Himalayan Times) 25 Setopati 26 Kantipur

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The government has put forth the concept of a smart lockdown with the decline in the cases of COVID-19. It has planned to open the financial sector without letting the infection spread.27

The Gulmi Chamber of Commerce and Industries has said it is mandatory for the traders at Tamghas to do the Antigen Test. Only those testing negative will be allowed to open their shops and businesses if the prohibitory orders are lifted there.28

The District Administration Office in Gorkha has extended prohibitory orders in the district for a week until June 26.29

The prohibitory orders have been extended till June 29 in Syangja.30

The prohibitory orders have been extended for a period of one week till June 28 in Makawanpur.31

The District COVID-19 Crisis Management Center has recommended extending the prohibitory orders in Parsa till June 27, with some relaxations.32

The restaurants of Kathmandu Valley that had remained shut down for one-and-a-half-months have started food delivery. This has become possible after the government changed the modality of its prohibitory orders and allowed the restaurants to provide packing and take-away services from June 15.33

The government has lifted restrictions on online deliveries of essential items but internet sellers say confusion prevails because of what “essential items” is supposed to mean.34

With the decline in COVID-19 cases in the country, preparations are being made to conduct the exams of universities, medical

27 Nayapatrika 28 Onlinekhabar 29 The Kathmandu Post 30 Onlinekhabar 31 Ratopati 32 Onlinekhabar 33 Nayapatrika 34 The Kathmandu Post

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education, and Class XII.35

It has been over a month and half since the prohibitory orders were imposed in the Kathmandu Valley and many other districts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, but little has been done to provide relief to the urban poor, most of whom have lost their livelihoods to the lockdown. Neither the federal government nor provincial or local governments have come up with the relief measures for such people despite reports of people walking for hours every day just to have free meals distributed by certain charity organizations and community people.36

OTHER(S)

National News

Director General of World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has admired the efforts of Nepali healthcare workers after a video on social media showing them transporting COVID-19 vaccines in a flooded river in the mountainous district of Mustang went viral. Retweeting the video, Ghebreyesus said, “This is how far health workers go to save lives.” Further raising questions about many healthcare workers still deprived of vaccination, he wrote, “Is it fair that in many places these heroes have still not been vaccinated?” 37 An office assistant of Dadelhdhura health post, who had been heading to the Jogbudha Hospital carrying 15 doses COVID-19 vaccine, was found dead on June 19. Her body is being kept at Jogbudha Hospital for postmortem.38 A total of 39 healthcare workers involved in the treatment of the COVID-19 patients as frontliners have lost lives.

35 Kantipur 36 The Kathmandu Post 37 The Himalayan Times 38 Setopati

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Twelve doctors and 27 other healthcare workers have lost their lives since January 23, 2020, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.39

The Madhyapur Thimi Municipality of Bhaktapur has conducted Antigen Test at the community level of 1,308 people under the management of Korea Nepal Friendship Hospital. A total of 48 people tested positive for COVID-19. Dr Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav, WHO Representative to Nepal, along with the officials from Nepal government had inspected the test drive.40 Only 10 per cent people took part in the mass Antigen and PCR tests conducted by the Madhyapur Thimi Municipality. It had aimed to conduct the tests on 10,000 people but only 1,308 people participated in the drive.41

In the past one-and-a-half months since the imposition of prohibitory orders, 73 cases of rape have been reported, according to the Women’s Rehabilitation Center. Likewise, different kinds of violence against 371 women and children were reported in the same duration of time.42

A total of 12,056 Nepalis of Kailali, who had returned from foreign employment, had applied for agriculture grant assistance — a program put forth by the Sudurpaschim Provincial government that had allocated Rs 160,000,000 to provide employment to the COVID-19 affected Nepalis who had returned from foreign employment. However, most of them who had applied did not get the grant assistance. Even those who got it could not start anything properly as the amount given was not sufficient. As such these people, most of them who used to work in India, are forced to return looking for a job.43

As part of easing its COVID-19 related restrictions, the Kuwaiti government on June 18 agreed to allow entry to citizens from countries including Nepal, starting August 1, provided they meet certain conditions — it will allow entry only to vaccinated expats, and also specified a list of vaccines the foreigners should have taken to enter the country. Such conditions could put

39 Nayapatrika 40 Setopati 41 Ratopati 42 Ratopati 43 Setopati

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Nepal workers at a disadvantages as allowing only vaccinated workers means not many Nepalis will be able to visit Kuwait, said Sujeet Kumar Shrestha, General Secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies.44

Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supply Rajkishor Yadav has said he has started homework for the rescue and protection of the industrial sector that has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.45

The Citizen Investment Trust is set to provide loans to the employees working in the tourism sector, which has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.46

The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has accused the KP Sharma Oli-led government of pushing the country into serious crisis due to its gross negligence and power-centric political maneuvers. The NC also said the government had used the COVID-19 pandemic as a shield to protect the state power instead of scaling up testing and treatment of coronavirus patients on a war footing.47

The Supreme Court has ordered the government to prioritize making an arrangement to inoculate journalists against COVID-19.48

A total of 226 journalists took the first dose of Vero Cell vaccine in Lalitpur on June 20.49

The government has been requesting people to use hand sanitizer, and wash hands with soap and water to be safe from COVID-19. However, the excessive use can cause hand dermatitis, as per dermatologist Dr Uma Keyal.50

The Health Services Office Jajarkot has confiscated the security deposit of the supplier that was unable to supply the oxygen

44 The Kathmandu Post 45 Ratopati 46 Baarhakhari 47 The Himalayan Times 48 Setopati 49 Ratopati 50 Setopati

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plant even after extending the deadline twice. The security deposit of Neptech Medical Suppliers Kathmandu was confiscated after canceling the contract with it.51

HOSPITALS and HEALTHCARE FACILITIES

Even though a shortage of oxygen cylinders resulted in the death of many COVID-19 patients in the second wave, accumulating such cylinders is off the government’s priority list as it prepares for a potential third wave. Officials at the Ministry of Health and Population said they have taken oxygen cylinders off a highly prioritized list of logistics required to combat a potential third wave of the coronavirus. We have delisted oxygen from high priority as cylinders are in adequate supply, said Dr Madan Upadhyay, Director of the Curative Service Division at the Department of Health Services. The government’s biggest priority to prepare for the third wave was vaccines, he said.52

The Bagmati Provincial government has decided to provide Rs 25.5 million to six different hospitals to control COVID-19 and provide treatment to the infected.53

The pressure of COVID-19 patients has reduced to a large extent at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku, as per its chief consultant Dr Anup Banstola. The beds in the Emergency Care are almost empty, they have removed the temporary structures on the hospital’s premises, and the wards are also emptying gradually, as per Dr Banstola. The ICU beds are emptying, he said. In case of the ICU, rather than new patients, those being referred to from private hospitals are being admitted here — most of them come here after facing shortage of money while undergoing treatment in private hospitals, he informed.54

51 Setopati 52 The Kathmandu Post 53 The Kathmandu Post 54 Setopati

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Beds at COVID-19 Care Center set up in Kailali’s Geta Medical College building have been lying vacant as the number of COVID-19 patients visiting the center has gone down significantly of late. According to Bishnu Joshi, a healthcare worker there, there are no COVID-19 patients at the present.55

The Hetaunda Hospital of Bagmati Province has been turned into a COVID-19 Hospital since the beginning of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. As such the COVID-19 patients from Makwanpur as well as from neighboring districts of Bara, Sarlahi, and Parsa have also been visiting the hospital for treatment. During the first wave of the pandemic, the hospital was unable to play a direct role in the treatment of COVID-19 patients — the people with critical conditions were referred to Chitwan for further treatment.56

Nearly 80 per cent beds of the COVID-19 hospital of Banke are empty — out of 361 beds, only 74 are occupied.57

Doctors, nurses, students, and staff have been staging protests since the last five days stating that there has been corruption at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan. Dr Gyandendra Karki, Vice- Chancellor at the Academy has also been accused of corruption in the procurement of healthcare materials during the COVID-19 pandemic. Complaints have been made at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority regarding the corruption during the procurement of the High Dependency Unit.58

The District Court of Banke has ordered the release of three people accused of beating up doctors and nurses at the Bheri Hospital, each on a bail of Rs 50,000.59

HELP and AID

The Nepal government on June 18 received critical medical equipment and supplies sent by the governments of Denmark and Ireland to help Nepal fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The supplies were provided under the European Union’s Civil

55 The Himalayan Times 56 Annapurna Post 57 Onlinekhabar 58 Nayapatrika 59 Setopati

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Protection Mechanism.60

Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators financed by the World Bank on June 19. The concentrators are part of a long-term solution for augmenting Nepal’s capacity to supply therapeutic oxygen to public health facilities thereby providing a stronger response to COVID-19 pandemic.61

Biratnagar Metropolitan City (BMC) has appealed to international agencies to provide support towards the control of COVID- 19. Stating that the federal and provincial governments have provided less healthcare materials to BMC, it has requested the international community to provide vaccines and other healthcare materials needed for the control of COVID-19.62

The Rasuwa Disabled Rehabilitation Center has provided healthcare materials to Rasuwa Hospital needed for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Face masks, face shields, digital thermometers, pulse oximeters, PPEs among others are the materials given to the hospital with support of Handicap International.63

International News

More than 350 doctors and medical workers have caught COVID-19 in Indonesia despite being vaccinated with Sinovac, and dozens have been hospitalized, officials said as concerns grow about the efficacy of some vaccines against more infectious variants. Most of the workers were asymptomatic and self-isolating at home, said Badai Ismoyo, head of the health office in the district of Kudus in central Java, but dozens were hospitalized with high fevers and falling oxygen-saturation levels.64

60 The Himalayan Times 61 The Himalayan Times 62 Nagarik 63 Annapurna Post 64 Reuters (in The Himalayan Times)

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India’s central government on June 19 urged states to be careful in reopening from COVID-19 lockdowns to prevent a resurgence of infections in the hard-hit country.65 A third wave of coronavirus infections is likely to hit India by October, and although it will be better controlled than the latest outbreak, the pandemic will remain a public health threat for at least another year, according to a Reuters poll of medical experts.66 Health officials in India’s richest state of Maharashtra have urged the authorities to step up preparations against a possible third wave of coronavirus infections, they said on June 18 as lockdowns eased less than a month after a surge that killed thousands.67 India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, wants to resume exports of coronavirus jabs but can’t do so until its domestic needs are met, the head of the country’s COVID-19 task force said on June 18.68 The roadside ‘dhabas’ are ubiquitous in India. Tens of thousands line national highways but many are now struggling to survive as customers stay at home despite several state governments relaxing coronavirus curbs on movement. Many ‘dhabas’ are family-run and employ millions, including local people and migrant workers. 69

Pakistan on June 19 reported the lowest daily number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths in the past three months. Federal authorities reported 27 deaths and 974 new confirmed cases.70

China has said it has administered more than 1,000,000,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to its citizens till June 19.71

US President Joe Biden took a cautious victory lap in his quest to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control, announcing that 300 million vaccine shots have been administered in the 150 days since he took office.72

65 Reuters (in The Himalayan Times) 66 Reuters (in The Himalayan Times) 67 Reuters (in The Kathmandu Post) 68 The Associated Press (in The Himalayan Times) 69 Reuters (in The Kathmandu Post) 70 The Associated Press (in The Himalayan Times) 71 Setopati

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Israel said on June 18 it will transfer around 1 million doses of soon-to-expire coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for a similar number of doses the Palestinians expect to receive later this year. The new Israeli government said it would transfer Pfizer vaccines that will expire soon, and that the PA would reimburse it with a similar number of vaccines when it receives them from the pharmaceutical company in September or October.73

Thousands of Hong Kong residents have rushed to make vaccination appointments after private firms, encouraged by the government, announced slew of incentives for vaccinated residents, including the chance to win gold bars or a new Tesla or a one-bed condominium. The hope is the incentive programs will breathe new life into Hong Kong’s vaccination program that has been slower than expected amid wide-spread vaccine hesitancy due to multiple factors including fears of serious side effects, a mistrust of the government and a lack of concern from residents.74

72 The Associated Press (in The Himalayan Times) 73 The Associated Press (in The Himalayan Times) 74 The Associated Press (in The Himalayan Times)

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Contacts for further details

Dr Sunoor Verma Strategic, Risk and Crisis Communication Consultant World Health Organization, Country Office for Nepal [email protected] [email protected]

Ms Tsering Dolkar Gurung NPO (Communication, Media and Public Information) World Health Organization, Country Office for Nepal [email protected]

WHO’s COVID-19 response in Nepal is made possible through the generous support of the Government of Azerbaijan, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Government of Germany and USAID.

Reference Code: 21JUN21MM_35B

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