Focused COVID-19 Media Monitoring, Nepal - ReliefWeb

Focused COVID-19 Media Monitoring, Nepal

Focused COVID-19 Media Monitoring Nepal1
                                                                             -Sharpening the COVID-19 Response through Communications Intelligence

Date: September 8, 2021
Kathmandu, Nepal

                                                          EMERGING THEME(S)

     •   Nepal reported 1,423 new COVID-19 cases, 21 deaths on September 7
     •   First and second doses of AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson, and Vero Cell vaccines being given from 8 different
         hospitals of Kathmandu
     •   3 hospitals in Nepal making preparations for third-phase trials of new COVID-19 vaccines
     •   Kathmandu to resume classes with physical presence of students from September 17

 1This intelligence is tracked through manually monitoring national print, digital and online media through a representative sample selection,
 and consultations with media persons and media influencers.

 WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                                                 2

ISSUE(S) IN FOCUS

Nepal's coronavirus caseload reached 772,182 on September 7 with 1,423 more people testing positive for the infection in the
past 24 hours, while the COVID-19 mortality toll increased to 10,879 with 21 more fatalities. Nepal's COVID-19 recovery rate
stands at 94.7 per cent, the fatality rate at 1.5 per cent, while the active COVID-19 case count currently is 30,303.2

The first and second doses of AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson, and Vero Cell vaccine are being given from eight different
hospitals of Kathmandu.3
The Ministry of Health and Population has said that 4.4 million doses of the Vero Cell vaccine are likely to be received
within a week from China. This is part of the 6 million doses the government has purchased of which 1.6 million has
already been received.4

Three hospitals are making internal preparations for the third phase trials of new COVID-19 vaccines as the government
authorities are in the process of giving approval for the trials. Dhulikhel Hospital along with Nepalgunj Medical College have
been chosen to conduct the third phase clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sanofi Pasteur, a French
multinational company in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline, a British pharma company. The trial of the mRNA vaccine jointly
developed by China’s Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences,
and Walvax Biotechnology will be conducted on 300 volunteers at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. As per the
Vaccine Clinical Trial Guidelines introduced by the government in June, the trial can begin after the Department of Drug
Administration issues a license to import the new vaccine and for the trial following the Cabinet’s approval. 5

2
  THT Online
3
  Baarhakhari
4
  The Kathmandu Post
5
  The Kathmandu Post

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                              3

Kathmandu District Administration Office has decided to allow schools to resume classes with the physical presence of
students from September 17. Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Kali Prasad Parajuli said they had decided to this effect after
numerous meetings with all stakeholders involved in the education sector.6

Keeping in view the increasing COVID-19 infections, students of Grade XII will be inoculated against the virus in Byas
Municipality, Tanahun from September 7. The students will be given the AstraZeneca vaccine before their board exam starts. 7

                                                        OTHER(S)

                                                     National News

Inaugurating the 74th annual general meeting of the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region on September 6,
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur said there is a need for the world to have equitable access to technology to win against
the COVID-19 pandemic.8
The Southeast Asian nations of the World Health Organization (WHO) have committed to strengthen the health system. Dr
Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia said the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the
importance of investing in the health sector, especially in primary health services. Effective, quality, safe and affordable
healthcare materials are also needed to ensure an effective response during the public health emergency, she added during
the 74th annual meeting of the WHO South-East Asia Region.9

The Ward No 4 of Gokarneshwor Municipality of Kathmandu and Gokarneshwor Mahadev Temple Area Management

6
  The Himalayan Times
7
  The Himalayan Times
8
  Nayapatrika
9
  Onlinekhabar

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                                4

Committee had notified that the annual mela on the day of kushe aunsi (Father’s Day) on September 7 had been cancelled for
this year due to the risk of the spread of COVID-19 infection. Security personnel had also been deployed around the
Gokarneshwor Temple Area from the night of September 6. Yet they could not stop the crowd as thousands of people from
different parts of the nation visited the temple on September 7.10

Tourism entrepreneurship has drawn the attention of the government to announce the reopening of the tourism sector as the
COVID-19 pandemic has been declining in the last few days. As all the frontliners in this sector have been vaccinated against
the infection, the announcement of its reopening can be done, they said.11

                                                   International News

Sydney, the epicenter of Australia’s biggest coronavirus outbreak, is expected to see daily infections peak next week,
authorities said on September 6 as they look to speed up immunizations before easing lockdown rules. Australia is trying to
contain a third wave of infections that has hit its two largest cities Sydney and Melbourne, and its capital Canberra, forcing
more than half the country’s 25 million people into strict stay-at-home restrictions. Daily cases in Sydney’s worst-affected
suburbs are expected to rise as high as 2,000 until the middle of this month, according to a government’s modeling. 12

The European Medicines Agency says it has started an expedited evaluation on whether to recommend a booster dose of the
coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech.13

India reported 38,948 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the overall tally to 33,027,621, informed the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare on September 6. Kerala alone has reported 26,701 cases in the last 24 hours. The trend of less
than 50,000 daily new cases is being reported for 71 consecutive days now.14
India aims to ramp up its medical oxygen production capacity to 15,000 tonnes per day before a potential third wave of

10
   Setopati
11
   Onlinekhabar
12
   Reuters (in The Kathmandu Post)
13
   The Associated Press (in The Kathmandu Post)
14
   Agencies (in The Himalayan Times)

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                                  5

coronavirus infections that is expected to hit the country as soon as mid-September, an industry executive said.15

In Thailand’s worst virus surge yet, lockdown measures have reduced what little Bangkok’s have-nots had to zero. Volunteer
groups are working to ensure they survive.16

Britain will likely approve widespread COVID-19 vaccination for 12-15-year-olds defying commendations of its vaccine
committee, which said the risk-benefit calculation was “finely balanced”, former government adviser Neil Ferguson said.17

15
   Reuters (in The Himalayan Times)
16
   The Associated Press (in The Himalayan Times)
17
   Reuters (in The Himalayan Times)

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                              6

Contacts for further details

Dr Sunoor Verma
Strategic, Risk and Crisis Communication Consultant
World Health Organization, Country Office for Nepal
sverma@who.int
sunoorv@gmail.com

Ms Tsering Dolkar Gurung
NPO (Communication, Media and Public Information)
World Health Organization, Country Office for Nepal
gurungt@who.int

WHO’s COVID-19 response in Nepal is made possible through the generous support of the
Government of Azerbaijan, the Government of Canada,
UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO),
Government of Germany, and USAID.

Reference Code: 21SEPT08MM_024

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                         7