STATUS AND RESPONSE TILL THIRD STAGE OF 2019 NOVEL CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19) IN NEPAL

Abstract

An outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection occurred in Wuhan, China at the end of December 2019 and spread of this virus already reached to almost 210 countries around the world. WHO declared COVID-19 as ‘global pandemic’ on 11 March, 2020 and accounted South Asia as the high-risk region. Nepal, a landlocked country bordering two most populous countries, India and China, was expected to have high number of cases of COVID-19 due to its proximity to the highly infected country China, and lately spreading country India. Also, many of the Nepali people are engaged in the businesses related with China and India. However, there has been very few reported cases in Nepal. The first case was reported on 24th January 2020, one and half months after the first case was confirmed in China. It took almost three months for the number of cases to reach 45 and to kick off the community spread stage of the pandemic. This research presented the detailed situation of the cases, testing facilities, quarantine and isolation, hospital, and nursing care etc. before the start of Community Transmission stage in Nepal. The scenario has been represented graphically and the condition of other South Asian nations has also been compared and visualized. The steps taken by the government, individuals, and other organizations are also highlighted. This paper also provides the concrete data and their analysis about the pandemic which can be helpful not only for the current but also for the future pandemic controls. KEYWORDS: COVID-19, coronavirus diseases 2019, global pandemic, South Asia, Nepal