By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Jan. 7: Health experts have warned that the infection of the new coronavirus variant could be dangerous for Nepal.
Dr. Anup Bastola, Chief Consultant of Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Diseases Hospital, Teku said that the outbreak of the new variant could prove dangerous for Nepal as people have already started flouting health protocols.
The country is not completely free from the first wave of coronavirus, Dr. Bastola wrote on his facebook on Wednesday.
“We have started violating all the public health standards. This negligence can prove dangerous, at a time when we are discussing the new virus strain and a possibility of a second wave,” Dr. Bastola said.
If the new virus strain lands in the country, then health workers and their families would be at higher risk, just like in the early days of the first wave of the coronavirus, he added.
“It will be foolish to take the new strain of coronavirus lightly,” Dr. Bastola warned.
He further said that people had a tendency to think that the new strain of coronavirus would not come to Nepal, like the way they thought when the COVID-19 was first seen in China.
“Nepal is recovering from the first wave of the virus. But we are sure to drown if the second wave of the new virus strain lands in the country, it we continue to disobey the health protocols and ignore preventive measures,” he said.
Stating that the new strain of coronavirus is more contagious, Dr. Bastola said, “The new strain of coronavirus has already reached 37 countries, including neighbouring India,” he said.
The intensive monitoring, adequate testing and mandatory isolation facility are a must to prevent a possible second wave of the virus, he suggested.
“At the same time, it is important to prevent and research the emergence of new variant of the virus,” he said.