The epidemic is spreading to countries around India, and a tsunami of epidemics is coming to South and Southeast Asia.
Statistics released by Nepal’s health department on the afternoon of May 4 show that there have been 7,660 new confirmed cases and 55 new deaths in Nepal in the past 24 hours, both of which are new historical records since the outbreak began in Nepal. Statistics from Johns Hopkins University show that Nepal has now accumulated more than 350,000 confirmed cases and 3,400 deaths, an unprecedented crisis for the small country with a total population of 28 million.
Â- Open-air cremation is underway in Nepal
Nepal’s epidemic curve is basically the same as India’s. In March, there were only 100 new cases in Nepal on a single day, but after the second outbreak in India in April, the number of new confirmed cases in Nepal also began to follow a straight line surge. In mid-April, after the outbreak of the Indian pot festival, the number of new cases per day in Nepal directly doubled tenfold, with the average number of new cases per day soaring to more than 1,000, and from April 21, the number of new cases per day in Nepal soared to more than 2,000. After April 30, the epidemic control in Nepal was almost out of control, with the number of confirmed cases increasing to more than 5,000 on a single day, and so far more than 7,000 cases have been confirmed on a single day for three consecutive days.
The recent spike in confirmed cases in Nepal
The reality is very grim, Nepal is a small landlocked country with a total area of only 147,500 square kilometers and a total population of about 28 million, compared to India with a total area of nearly 3 million square kilometers and a total population of about 1.4 billion, Nepal has had 7,000+ new confirmed cases on a single day for 3 days in a row and India has had 300,000+ new confirmed cases on a single day for 13 days in a row.
Â- Near the crematorium, grieving families of patients
Why is the epidemic in Nepal suddenly out of control?
First, the border between Nepal and India is 1,700 kilometers long, with as many as 22 border crossings, and the border crossing between India and Nepal is easy. Even at the height of the epidemic last year, the border crossings between the two countries were still open normally, and Nepal did not enforce strict quarantine and isolation measures for Nepalese citizens returning from the Indian side, as Nepalese returning from India could return to their place of residence for isolation if their body temperature was normal, which aggravated the spread of asymptomatic infected people along the way to their place of residence.
Â- Open air cremation in Nepal is already very strict compared to India
Second, the second wave of the Indian outbreak is a double mutant virus, characterized by rapid transmission and relatively high lethality. A fast-spreading mutant virus can be devastating for countries with inadequate epidemic preparedness measures, which is the main reason for the continued spike in new confirmed cases in India and Nepal this round.
Third, Nepal’s health care system is very fragile and hospitals simply cannot withstand the onslaught of 7,000+ new diagnoses in a single day. Nepal’s medical resources are very tight and are concentrated in the capital city of Kathmandu, while clinics and hospitals in other remote areas are very poorly equipped and cannot effectively isolate new cases.
The border crossing between Nepal and India is nearly free, and there are no strict epidemic control measures.
Nepal is not the only country that has been hit hard, South and Southeast Asian countries may burst at any time
The Indian wave of the epidemic has hit neighboring countries hard. In addition to Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also on the verge of an outbreak. In the past 24 hours, there were 3,377 new confirmed cases in Pakistan, 1,914 in Bangladesh, and 3,837 in Sri Lanka, and the number of new confirmed cases remains high.
Singapore has announced a no-entry policy for five countries – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – and travelers who have visited these five countries in the past 14 days are not allowed to enter or transit through Singapore. Malaysia, Iran, Bangladesh and other countries have announced a ban on entry/transit of Indian citizens and tourists to prevent the second wave of the Indian outbreak from continuing to spread to the surrounding areas.
◎ Australian medical supplies charter flight arrived in India, bringing 1,056 respirators
Nevertheless, the situation in South and Southeast Asian countries is quite worrying. In addition to the lack of strict epidemic control measures, South and Southeast Asian countries are also extremely passive in the face of the epidemic due to their relatively poor infrastructure and medical resources.
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