By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Aug. 8:The nation’s COVID-19 tally has been on the rise lately as thousands of new infections are being confirmed daily. While the second wave of the pandemic, which had begun in Nepal in May, has not ended, the nation is already on the verge of being hit by the third wave.

As the prohibitory order imposed to curb the spread of the virus has been relaxed, many people are seen flouting public health standards. The public health experts have warned that the nation would have to face a grave situation again if the safety measures are not followed duly as festivals including Janai Purnima, Teej, Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath are also approaching.

Dr. Rabindra Pandey, a public health expert, is of the view that the infection rate would resurge in the next three months if the administration and the health ministry do not take stringent measures immediately to break the chain of the spread of the virus. “Last year, the government had imposed a prohibitory order just a few days before Teej. This had helped in preventing the rampant spread of COVID-19 and thus, the cases had plunged down after Tihar.”

Stating that prohibitory orders invite economic burden to many families and the nation itself, Dr. Pandey suggested that the government must consider imposing penalties and fines against those who defy public health standards and restrict only those actions causing unnecessary crowding of public and keep the economic activities functioning to prevent the third wave during festivities.
Likewise, public health specialist Dr. Baburam Marasini said, “The infection rate is likely to increase during Teej. Hence, vaccination campaigns should be conducted rapidly and the citizens should also abide by the rules, regulations, and recommendations made by the authorities.”

According to Dr. Anup Bastola, director at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku, said, “The nation is almost at the end of the second wave. However, if vaccines are not arranged for everyone, including the children, on time and public health protocols are flouted, the third wave will hit us in no time.”

“If the cases continue to increase at the same pace, the hospitals will again be overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients in the next month. The government should consider imposing ‘smart lockdown’ and again tightening the ongoing restrictions if the health institutions are flooded with active patients requiring medical support.”  

Meanwhile, speaking at a meeting of the Health and Education Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday, Dr. Guna Raj Lohani, chief of the Policy, Planning and Monitoring Division of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), said that the ministry anticipated that around 200,000 new infections would be added to Nepal’s COVID-19 tally in the next five months. “Of them, over 38,000 might be admitted to hospitals and over 9,000 might require intensive care,” said Dr. Lohani.

The MoHP has time and again issued statements appealing to the health institutions and public to brace for the third wave. Dr. Samir Kumar Adhikari, assistant spokesperson at the Health Ministry, said that based on the growing number of infections from mid-July, the ministry had predicted that a grave situation might unfold in the nation within a few weeks.
“The flow of COVID-19 patients in hospitals has increased across the country. Considering the threat, the ministry is working round-the-clock to generate awareness about the need of wearing masks, maintaining social distance, sanitising, and taking COVID-19 tests if symptoms are detected,” said Dr. Adhikari.

He added that the MoHP had also conducted skill-sharing programmes and provided training to paramedics and medical officers to operate ICUs and ventilators to avoid the problem of scarce human resources in the frontline like before.