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: 21 February 2022
Kathmandu, Nepal

                                                          EMERGING THEME(S)

     •   Nepal reported 229 new COVID-19 cases, 4 deaths on 20 February; COVID-19 daily infection decreasing the world over
         — was recorded at 5.82% in Nepal on 17 February, 2.61% in India; 309 people have died so far in Nepal in third wave
         of COVID-19 pandemic, all had comorbidities
     •   BA.2 subvariant of Omicron does not only spread faster than earlier variants but could also cause more severe disease,
         according to lab study
     •   COVID-19 pandemic has gravely affected timely access of those financially weak to healthcare services

 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

The national active COVID-19 caseload of Nepal climbed to 12 244 on 20 February as 229 people tested positive for the
infection in the past 24 hours. The latest reported number of infections carried the nationwide tally to 975 559, while the death
toll reached 11 921 as 4 fatalities were recorded. Nepal's COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.5%, while the fatality rate
stands at 1.2%.2
The daily COVID-19 infection rate is decreasing across the world. It came down to 2.61% in highly affected India on 17
February, while the rate in Nepal was 5.82% on the same date.3
The COVID-19 infection has been decreasing gradually since the last 2 weeks. The infection rate is 18, while the
test positivity from among those who have tested for COVID-19 has decreased to 4%, according to the Ministry of Health
and Population.4
A total of 309 people in Nepal have died in the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic as of now. All of them comprise people with
underlying health conditions like diabetes, long-term kidney diseases, COPD, cancer lungs disease, tuberculosis among others
— whose immunity power has become very weak due to the infection, as per the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP).
Most of those who died due to the COVID-19 infection were comorbid, as per Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, Joint Spokesperson at
the MoHP. None of the vaccinated people who are healthy died due to the infection in the third wave as per MoHP. 5
A total of 72% people above the age of 12 have taken the complete doses of vaccine against COVID-19 in Nepal as of now.
Meanwhile, 91% have taken at least one dose.6
A total of 769 576 people took the vaccine against COVID-19 in Nepal on 19 February, according to the data of the Ministry of
Health and Population.7

2
  THT Online
3
  Nayapatrika
4
  Baahrakhari
5
  Kantipur
6
  Kantipur

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                                 3

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron is not only faster at spreading, but may also cause more severe disease, a lab study
suggests. The yet-to-be peer-reviewed findings, recently posted on the preprint repository BioRxiv, show that the BA.2 sub-
variant may have features that make it as capable of causing serious illness as coronavirus variants. On 17 February, the
World Health Organization said while BA.2 is more transmissible than BA.1, the sub-variant is not more severe.8

The citizens with poor financial condition, who are suffering from different health complications, have been affected more by
the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Those who are unable to go to the hospital on time, those unable to bear the expense
of the regular hospital stay and expensive treatment have been affected more. As they are unable to reach the hospital on time
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of them reach hospitals after the disease has spread, as per Dr Prabhakar Sah. As per
him, those suffering from cancer as well as problems of the heart, kidneys, Parkinson’s and such other diseases have been
affected more by the pandemic.9

                                                         OTHER(S)

                                                      National News

The problem of suicide is getting grave in Rolpa in recent days. Along with the armed conflict of the past, alcohol abuse,
poverty, and mental health problems, the COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to the increase in suicides.10

Due to the policy-level subsidy given to banks and financial institutions by the Nepal Rastra Bank to reduce the impact of

7
  Annapurna Post
8
  Press Trust of India (in The Himalayan Times)
9
  Nayapatrika
10
   Nagarik

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                               4

COVID-19, there has been a high investment of loans creating liquidity in the market. As such to address the problem, the
Nepal Rastra Bank has stopped providing those subsidies.11

Nepal’s trekking industry, a key sector that generates tens of thousands of jobs, disintegrated as the country remained under
the pandemic’s grip for 2 consecutive years. Industry insiders say hundreds of trekking guides were forced to switch to other
professions as the tourists did not return. But with Omicron cases ebbing, hopes of a revival are rising. “We are soon entering
the spring of 2022. That’s one of our busiest seasons. There are hopes that the industry will receive modest arrivals because
inquires are starting to come,” said Khum Bahadur Subedi, President of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal.12

Dozens of homestays in Tanahun are wearing a deserted look after the number of domestic tourists decreased following the
coronavirus pandemic. The homestays in the district used to attract a huge number of tourists before the pandemic. Most of
the people reached the homestays at least a week for refreshment, earlier, But the number of tourists have gone down sharply
in the last 2 years due to coronavirus.13

                                                   International News

Hong Kong reported 15 coronavirus deaths and more than 6 000 confirmed cases for a second day in a surge the
Chinese territory’s leader says it’s overwhelming hospitals. Also on 19 February, the government announced plans to have
construction crews from mainland China build isolation units with 10 000 beds after crowding at hospitals forced patients to
wait outdoors in winter cold.14
Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers are being “abandoned” in the current coronavirus wave sweeping the city, with some
forced to sleep rough or being denied after testing positive, charities said on 18 February. The warning came as Hong Kong’s
leader Carrie Lam told residents to encourage helpers to stay indoors and said police would step up social distancing fines.
Hong Kongers live in one the world’s most densely packed cities and rely on some 370 000 foreign domestic workers, the vast

11
   Nayapatrika
12
   The Kathmandu Post
13
   The Himalayan Times
14
   The Associated Press (in The Himalayan Times)

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                                5

majority women from the Philippines and Indonesia who cook, clean and care for their families. Foreign domestic workers must
live with their employers, cannot swap jobs easily, and are only entitled to one day off a week.15

China is giving COVID-19 booster vaccines using technologies different from the initial injections, in an effort to improve
immunization strategies amid concerns that its most-used jab appeared to be weaker against variants such as Omicron.
Experts are watching whether combined Chinese doses would lead to higher effectiveness. Adults injected with a vaccine
developed by Sinopharm or Sinovac at least 6 months earlier can now receive their booster doses with vaccines using different
technologies, produced by CanSino Biologics or a unit of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products, National health Commission
official Wu Liangyou said on 19 February.16

On New Year’s Eve, the Indian government wrote to states encouraging them to promote the use of COVID-19 home tests,
especially for people who are experiencing symptoms, in a bid to avoid straining local health systems. In the first 20 days of
January, around 200 000 people shared their test results with India’s health agency — a 66-fold increase compared to all of
2021. The strategy apparently worked. Those testing positive with speedy, though less accurate tests were told to self-isolate
at home, allowing hospital beds to remain available for the most vulnerable. But experts say this figure is likely only a fraction
of the actual number of tests used. Despite rules requiring people to share their results with authorities, many aren’t doing so.
This means the country’s already patchy testing data is even less accurate and that future clusters may go undetected.17

Singapore will begin implementing a long-flagged increase to its goods and services tax next year, its finance minister said in
his budget speech on 18 February, while also announcing a slew of tax hikes aimed at higher income groups. The moves
come as Singapore emerges from a pandemic-induced economic slump.18

Police began arresting protesters on 18 February in a bid to break the 3-week, traffic-snarling siege of Canada’s capital by
hundreds of truckers angry over the country’s COVID-19 restrictions. Officers were seen going door to door along a line of
trucks, campers and other vehicles parked on Ottawa’s snow-covered streets.19

The world’s biggest economies are committed to taking a careful approach to unwinding support introduced during the

15
   Agence France Press (in The Himalayan Times)
16
   Reuters (in The Himalayan Times)
17
   The Associated Press (in The Kathmandu Post)
18
   Reuters (in The Himalayan Times)
19
   The Associated Press (in The Kathmandu Post)

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                                  6

coronavirus pandemic, Indonesia said on Friday at a meeting of G20 finance chiefs. Some central banks, including in the
United States, are moving towards hiking rates and withdrawing stimulus as economies rebound strongly from COVID-19-
induced downturns and inflation surges. But there are concerns that aggressive policy tightening could knock a fragile recovery
off course, and send shockwaves through developing countries.20

20
     Agence France Presse (in The Kathmandu Post)

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                                                             7

Contacts for further details

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 Canada.

Reference Code: 22FEB21MM_137

WHE Communications Intelligence                                                         8