Focused COVID-19 Media Monitoring, Nepal - ReliefWeb
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Focused COVID-19 Media Monitoring, Nepal
Focused COVID-19 Media Monitoring Nepal1
-Sharpening the COVID-19 Response through Communications Intelligence
Date: 28 February 2022
Kathmandu, Nepal
EMERGING THEME(S)
• Nepal reported 94 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death on 27 February; 7 local levels of Kavre are COVID-19-free, no new
cases reported; rate of COVID-19 infection came down to 3% on 26 February from 52.6% on 19 January
• Nepal at risk of losing the progress made in health sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Canada has become the first country in the world to authorize use of plant-based COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 18-
64 years
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 2ISSUE(S) IN FOCUS Nepal on 27 February reported 94 new PCR confirmed coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours taking the nationwide infection tally to 976 865. One person died from COVID-19-related infections in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP). The countrywide death toll has reached 11 935 since the pandemic began. According to the data released by MoHP, 2 districts are home to more than 500 active cases each, other eight districts host more than 200 active cases each.2 The 7 local levels of Kavre — 2 municipalities and 5 rural municipalities — have become free of COVID-19. No new cases of infection have been seen in the past 2 days.3 The rate of COVID-19 infection reduced from 52.6% to 3% in the past 38 days. In the third wave of the pandemic induced by the Omicron variant, Nepal recorded 52.6% infection rate on 19 January and it was 3% on 26 February. 4 The Omicron threat has waned, bringing a huge sigh of relief. While coronavirus cases and deaths have come down, experts say there are other various causes that lead to deaths in Nepal and those should not be ignored, as the focus for the past 2.5 years has been diverted to dealing with the pandemic. “We don’t know the current situation,” said Dr Sagar Rajbhandari, former director at the National Tuberculosis Control Center. “The situation has worsened further due to the pandemic and we are at risk of losing the progress made through decades of investment and hard work.” Officials say new case findings have declined by up to 60% during the pandemic, drug resistant tuberculosis and HIV have risen many folds further increasing death risk.5 Canada has become the first country to authorize use of plant-based COVID-19 vaccine. Canadian regulators said on 24 February Medicago’s 2-dose vaccine can be given to adults aged 18 to 64, but said there’s too little data on the shots in people 2 Kathmandupost.com 3 Ratopati 4 Nayapatrika 5 The Kathmandu Post WHE Communications Intelligence 3
65 and older. The decision was based on a study of 24 000 adults that found the vaccine was 71% effective at preventing
COVID-19 — although that was before the Omicron variant emerged. Side effects were mild, including fever and fatigue. 6
OTHER(S)
National News
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Nayaran Khadka has appealed to the international community to make the vaccine
against COVID-19 accessible to all and make it less expensive while accepting the fact that COVID-19 is a common global
problem. He said so virtually addressing the high-level global discussion of vaccines organized by the General Assembly of
the United Nations.7
A total of 59.5% of the total population of Nepal have taken the complete dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the data
of the Ministry of Health and Population.8
The World Bank has granted a loan of Rs 2 140 000 000 to Nepal on subsidy to procure the vaccine against COVID-19 for
children. The government of Nepal and the World Bank signed the loan agreement on 25 February. The said amount will be
used to arrange the vaccine for everyone above the age of 5.9
Under the Government of India’s ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative, the Indian Army gifted 100 000 doses of made in India vaccines to
the Nepal Army amid a ceremony at the Nepal Army Headquarters on 24 February.10
6
Agencies (in The Kathmandu Post)
7
Baahrakhari
8
Nayapatrika
9
Nagarik
10
The Himalayan Times
WHE Communications Intelligence 4The government is set to do the PCR test of COVID-19 free of cost for laborers who are going abroad for foreign employment. The free PCR test for them is available at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Bir Hospital, and National Public Health Laboratory.11 An oxygen plant has been set up at the Chaurideurali Rural Municipality of Kavre — it can refill oxygen needed for 30 big cylinders per day.12 The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to let private hospitals go scot free that cheated the government by claiming to treat COVID-19 patients free of cost during the pandemic rather than take action against them. Dr Ramesh Dhakal, Advisor of the Minister for Health and Population Birodh Khatiwada, has been coordinating with those hospitals for the same. 13 Nepali citizens traveling to India will not be required to undergo the RT-PCR test any longer, as per the new COVID-19 travel guidelines. A notice issued by the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Ministry of Health and Population requested the authorities to ease travel to India.14 The Nepali tea entrepreneurs have said they have not been able to manufacture tea as per their capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tea production quality has been affected as the farmers have been unable to pick the leaves on time due to the pandemic. The industry is in a state of coma, a tea entrepreneur added.15 The tourism sector of Nepal, which was hit hard since the cancellation of the Visit Nepal Year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has not been able to recover. The tourism sector, totally dependent on the arrival of tourists, faced the worst impact of all due to the pandemic.16 The art galleries of Kathmandu have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic — there are very few activities in most of them 11 Annapurna Post 12 Nayapatrika 13 Nayapatrika 14 The Himalayan Times 15 Kantipur 16 Nagarik WHE Communications Intelligence 5
while the sale of artworks is almost zero.17
International News
Hong Kong’s government invoked emergency powers on 24 February to allow doctors, nurses and other personnel from the
Chinese mainland to help combat a spiraling coronavirus outbreak. Mainland medics are not currently allowed to operate in
Hong Kong without passing local exams and meeting licensing regulations. The emergency powers “exempt certain person or
projects from all relevant statutory requirements … so as to increase Hong Kong’s epidemic control capacity for containing the
fifth wave within a short period of time,” the government said in a statement.18
Hong Kong on 25 February reported another sharp jump in new COVID-19 cases to more than 10 000 in the latest 24-hour
period as it battles its worst outbreak of the pandemic.19
China on 25 February reported the highest daily count of COVID-19 cases arriving from outside the mainland in nearly 2 years,
with infections mostly from Hong Kong and the financial hub grapples with a wave of infections. The mainland detected a total
of 142 imported cases with confirmed symptoms for 24 February, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on 25 February.
That marks the highest imported caseload since the authority began classifying domestically transmitted cases and infected
travelers from outside the mainland separately, in March 2020.20
17
Nayapatrika
18
Agence France Presse (in The Kathmandu Post)
19
The Associated Press (in The Himalayan Times)
20
Reuters (in The Himalayan Times)
WHE Communications Intelligence 6Contacts 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: 22FEB28MM_142 WHE Communications Intelligence 7
You can also read
