Cover news reporter Yan Lei intern Zhang Xiaoyue
At present, the epidemic in India has attracted the attention of the world, and the emergence of the new crown virus variant is affecting the world. Nepal, which borders India, has gradually "fallen". On May 9, local time, Nepal's per capita mortality rate surpassed India's for the first time and continued to soar.
Why did this country, which is known as "the closest to heaven", fall into the "hell" of the epidemic?
The virus comes from India, the "eye of the storm of the epidemic"
To escape India's menacing second wave, thousands of Nepalese migrant workers and Indians fled India across the open border with Nepal in northern India, bringing a highly contagious strain of the virus to Nepal.
In mid-April, as cases in India surged, Nepal's former royal king Gyanendra and Queen Kamal, along with more than 50,000 Nepalese pilgrims, still traveled to Haridwar in northern India to participate in India's "Big Pot Festival". It was then that many of them contracted the virus and brought it back to Nepal.
Since midnight on May 6, Nepal has announced the suspension of all international flights, but under the "Travel Bubble Agreement" between Nepal and India, two international flights are still allowed to travel to and from India every week.
Medical resources and vaccines are in dire need
Nepal relies on its relatively wealthy neighbor India for almost all of its medical resources. But now, with India in short supply, Nepal also faces severe shortages of oxygen, ventilators and other vital medical equipment.
Samir Adikari, a co-spokesman for Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population, said: "There is currently no way to address the basic needs of hospitals and health workers in the country. Nepal's health system is 'paralyzed' and the health authorities are helpless. ”
Nepal currently has a population of 29 million, but only 1,127 intensive care beds, 1,555 intensive care wards and 453 ventilators, and has fewer medical resources per capita than India. The country is unable to generate its own oxygen, and oxygen imports have been interrupted for more than two weeks due to border closures and the crisis in India. Some hospitals are already full of patients, and coupled with a lack of oxygen, there is now even more powerlessness.
Roshan Pohrel, chief expert at Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population, said: "We are in a much worse situation than in India. Our health system has collapsed and is unable to accept more patients. ”
The proportion of people living with COVID-19 has been increasing, and now accounts for 50% of the country, more than twice the highest level in India. With even the sickest without access to health care, testing is likely to continue to stagnate, and the number of people infected with COVID-19 will far exceed the number of people who currently test positive.
In addition, Nepal's vaccination rate is only 1.29%, although Nepal has previously purchased a batch of vaccines and received vaccine donations from China, India and other countries, but this number is far from enough.
The prevention and control of the epidemic at the national level has relaxed its vigilance
Health officials and doctors believe that Nepal's second wave is so serious, in part because the first wave is not so serious, so they have relaxed their vigilance and epidemic prevention.
When the global outbreak broke out last year, Nepal imposed a four-month strict lockdown. While fewer than 2,000 Nepalis have died from the virus, the economic costs of the lockdown are enormous. One unemployed citizen said, "I often feel like I'm going to die of starvation before the coronavirus kills me,"
According to Nepalese doctors and health officials, public preventive measures have been minimized since the last wave. Meanwhile, at the height of Nepal's outbreak, officials are scrambling for power.
In 2018, Kad Prasad Ollie became prime minister with the support of two-thirds of the parliament's number of people, but in the House of Representatives confidence vote held on May 10 this year, Ollie failed to receive more than half of the votes. Because of his inappropriate anti-epidemic measures, Parliament has lost trust in him.
Ollie has been criticized since last year's coronavirus pandemic for spending more time in partisanship. His government, which imposed a lockdown on 29 April to contain infection, failed to prepare for further outbreaks and caught the country's health care system off guard.
"When people die in homes, on the streets and in hospital parking lots, politicians are attacking each other for who is prime minister," one Nepal resident said. Once again, the leaders have let us down. ”
Former Nepal's election commission chairman, Boiray Poharel, said, "At this time, all political forces should work together to put aside past differences and work together to end the coronavirus crisis." But unfortunately, politicians are focusing on who can be in power. ”
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