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Event Report

The talk started with a brief introduction of the situation in Nepal with 3.5 million active cases and 93 active cases. A severe shortage of medical supplies. The following questions were raised in the discussion: What is the current situation of COVID-19 in India and Nepal? How did we come to this severe situation? What steps have been taken by both the government are those adequate? How can the govt India and Nepal control the pandemic? What further steps should be taken? How will it impact the economy? Which sector will be impacted the most? How are the international institutes responding to the same?

The first speaker, journalist Jyoti Malhotra speaks about India’s situation. She highlighted the fact that the Govt had announced, that COVID-19 was over. She also mentioned that not many samples of the COVID-19 variant were recorded. The UK variant was brought in via international traveling which were not screened properly for proper tests. Genome sequencing was not done properly. India’s infrastructural lack was another reason behind the rise. Not enough tests were done. Not an adequate vaccination drive. The second wave affected the youth from 18 to 45 years of age. The first wave vaccinated the old, but the youth was getting affected later in the second wave. Cities being the epicenter, since march 2020. Like Delhi and Mumbai. There has been negligence in the cities. Though Mumbai divided the city into 2 sectors containing people severely affected and mildly affected, Delhi continues to be inadequately prepared. She also mentioned that neighboring countries have offered help with oxygen and other necessities. Russia gave vaccines named Sputnik and Pfizer.

Prof. Giridhara Babu the head of the Indian institute of public health, Bengaluru, specified the no. of active cases and the deaths along with the recovered patients. He discusses the reproduction rate, and how the COVID-19 cases will increase. Nepal had been seeing a steep rise in the effective reproduction of COVID-19 cases among people. He concentrated on the increase in cases which in turn will cause a problematic situation in terms of the hospital facilities. Infrastructural development for emergency supplies of oxygen were unavailable. Remote areas needed to be provided with oxygen. The reason behind the sudden surge in deaths in Nepal was unknown. He adds that the test positivity rate surge in cases happens only when there is a tendency to decrease testing which is a wrong practice. In Nepal testing records have not been improved. The reason for a surge in cases in India were the agent factors which would be newer variants. Host factors like inadequate preventive measures, vaccinations not completed, waning antibodies, etc. Environmental factors would be super spreader events. Vaccination doses were not enough according to the stats shown by Mr. Giridhara Babu. Responses by India to COVID-19 like lockdowns, international help in medical facilities, EU had been approached for remdesivir, however rural areas still lacked facilities. Military support had been initiated by the government. Nepal banned domestic and international flights and declared lockdowns. He suggests an increase in tests, hospital facilities, converting hotels parks, and other recreational places into COVID-19 treatment centers vaccination coverage, and raising awareness might help fight COVID-19. Communication as to how vaccination works needs to be initiated was another suggestion made by him.

Dr. Suresh Panthee compares how the COVID-19 arrived in Nepal. The first few cases arrived through international travel. He highlighted the pointers behind the failure of the lockdown system in Nepal. The hospitals were not prepared, and the medical infrastructure was not developed. The testing process was weakened. He made an in-depth comparison of the cases in Nepal and India. The border controls were not proper which caused a lot of infections to be spread. He suggested simple measures like social distancing, teleworking, and sanitization to prevent COVID-19 infections.

Mr. Bharat Bhushan mentioned policy failures and late detection of mutation of COVID-19 variants, inability to anticipate whether it will hit so bad were the core causes. Shortage in RTPCR Testing kits was seen. The anti-viral drugs were sold to patients and were not sold to hospitals. Black marketing of these drugs was prevalent. Vaccination production was flawed. The government was bashed for its ill planning in case of vaccination dosage to particular age groups according to phases. The political leadership failure was a major reason according to Mr. Bhushan, the super spreader events were inaugurated by the politicians themselves, and the promotion of untested Ayurveda medicines was helped by the government. The Kumbh Mela was held amidst the pandemic. Superstitious practices were being popularized by the govt itself. Elections were held in various states. Politicians were caught red-handed in corruption charges against smuggling anti-viral drugs. Vaccination availability was only reduced to the elites. Rural areas faced job losses, farmers’ losses and an increase in unemployment rates were the consequences of the lockdowns according to Mr. Bhushan.

Dr. Harjit Singh Bhatti gave a broader picture of the devastating conditions in case of hospital situations. Patients were dying on the roads. He also mentioned that mutations were very quick and new variants were more dangerous. Isolation centers were not available, and quarantine measures had been degraded according to Dr. Bhatti. Ill planning, ill-informed and hasty decisions taken by the government in India caused chaos. Oxygen availability was inadequate due to a lack of transportation,

Journalist Shrishti Kafle mentioned that in Nepal events like weddings, jatras, festivals, and the Nepali new year were disastrous. Nepalis visited India for Kumbh Mela and transmissions were caused. She also highlighted that India provided one million dosage grant assistance to Nepal along with China’s vaccine. She mentioned that only 2% of the population received the vaccine but only 1% have received the 1^st dosage. Nepal signed a 2 million dosage agreement with ISI however corruption followed. China helped in Nepal’s oxygen supply.

Mr. Angshuman highlighted that the scientific data were not communicated to the government. France sent oxygen plants to India. The national task force for oxygen was allocated by the judiciary, but not by the government. However, oxygen trains were organized by the government. The migrant crisis was responded to through the setting up of helpline no. and desks for management. He adds that international aid was not reaching the state governments. Refusal to approve foreign vaccines and denying UN assistance was a kind of COVID-19 nationalism or ultra-nationalism states Angshuman.

Medical personnel Mr. Rudroneel Ghosh also mentioned how the Cowin platform was not very effective. The last speaker a journalist from Nepal mentioned China’s inclusion of health in its belt and road initiative. Mask diplomacy of Nepal and China. He added that India gave Nepal hydroxychloroquine. Medical kits like N95 masks, surgical masks, etc. were provided by China to Nepal. WHO USAID, WB, ADB, International NGOs the International economic cooperation, and other international organizations helped both India as well as Nepal.

Prepared by Somali Chowdhuri, Intern at NIICE, Nepal