<img width="1366" height="871" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131116/636cebda9c7e80680e09ad2ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Nepal’s first wave of the coronavirus last year now looks like a ripple, and what the country is now witnessing is the main eruption. 
A lot of the attention is on Kathmandu Valley because more than half the daily new Covid-19 cases are here. But it is the Tarai districts bordering India that have been ravaged first, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/as-india-peaks-covid-19-spreads-rapidly-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">just like last year</a>, but on a much vaster scale. 
Epidemiologists say what happens in India arrives in Nepal four weeks later, and the border cities precede Kathmandu by two weeks. Banke district, for example, which is the gateway to Nepal for most returnees from India, is the second most affected after Kathmandu, with 4,811 <a href="https://covid19.mohp.gov.np/covid/englishSituationReport/6091313e5e4ad_SitRep450_COVID-19_4-05-2021_EN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">active cases</a>. 
Banke’s positivity rate is shocking: <a href="https://covid19.mohp.gov.np/covid/englishSituationReport/6091313e5e4ad_SitRep450_COVID-19_4-05-2021_EN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">210 of the 299 PCR tests</a> at Nepalganj Medical College (NMC) in Kohalpur in 24 hours on Tuesday were positive -- 19 times higher than the rate a month earlier.
The doubling time for the infection at Bheri Hospital in Nepalganj is only eight days. The hospital did 1.6% of all the tests nationwide in the past two months, but had 5.35% of the new cases in that time. 
One would have thought that the first wave would have prepared Banke and indeed Nepal for this one. But what is happening now is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-covid-tsunami/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tsunami</a>.
Last year, when we caught up with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/quarantine-guidelines-impossible-to-meet-local-governments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deputy Mayor Uma Thapa Magar of Nepalganj</a>, she was trying to enforce mandatory quarantine on returnees from India, and trying to make sense of a virus that no one knew much about. The mixed directives or inadequate resources from the federal government did not help. Municipalities were left to fend for themselves. 
“We were learning as we went along, this time we are dealing with a completely different virus," says Deputy Mayor Magar. "Last year the patient numbers were manageable, even with home isolation. This year, a high share of those who test positive need hospital beds with oxygen. If we cannot provide oxygen, we lose them. There is enough oxygen, but not enough cylinders." 
The first wave was a dress rehearsal for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/unmasking-the-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">second one</a>. Local leaders have learnt that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-india-connection-in-nepals-covid-19-status/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the border is the chokepoint</a>, and 70% of cases initially were among those with travel history. At the Indian border, health personnel are working in three shifts to screen inbound Nepalis with antigen tests. Those testing negative are kept in holding centres, then transported to home districts by local governments. Positive patients are kept in isolation in Nepalganj, or taken to their domiciles with the support of the Red Cross. These pre-established networks from the first wave have made the work smoother, but the sheer numbers have overwhelmed local capacity. 
Bheri Hospital had 140 beds and NMC had 50, which had been expanded to 220 and 300 during the first wave. As our report this week shows, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-designates-more-hospitals-for-covid-19-treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepalganj has also added isolation centres</a>, including with oxygen supply, to reduce the pressure on the hospitals. But even with all this, it is not enough.
“We are operating beyond capacity,” says Prakash Bahadur Thapa, the physician who heads Bheri Hospital, sounding fatigued on the phone. “Of the 277 patients now, 180 need oxygen and 9 are on ventilator support, 77 in ICU beds. We are using up to 400 oxygen cylinders daily, before Covid we needed only 10-20 per day.”
More than 100 staff at Bheri Hospital have tested positive. More support has been added, but even doctors and nurses with mild symptoms are caring for patients in the Covid-19 wards. A bed is available only when a patient recovers or dies. Says Thapa, “There is no comparison between the first and the second wave, and the next two months will be difficult.”  
The number of deaths is also higher during the current spread, and even the Nepal Army is overwhelmed in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-electric-crematorium-running-non-stop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">management of bodies</a>. We asked Thapa what is most urgently needed. His reply: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-designates-more-hospitals-for-covid-19-treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more hospitals need to be included as Covid-19 facilities</a>. Just two hospitals with limited beds are already inadequate. 
Nepalganj shows that local governments are best placed to react urgently to the ground situation. But Deputy Mayor Thapa Magar says the scale of this crisis means that they need help with medical supplies, oxygen, cylinders, setting up more isolation centres. Voluntary organisations can also help by mobilising awareness about using masks and avoiding crowds. The only way to stay alive in the pandemic is not to fall sick in the first place. 
Physician Thapa at Bheri Hospital puts it bluntly: “In the coming days, it will be the availability of oxygen that will determine how many live and how many die.” 
An exasperated Sunil Singh, chair of Ward 2, says Nepalganj must declare a health emergency. “Imagine if this was an earthquake or a flood disaster, what would our response be? More medical supplies, more health staff, temporary health centres, food rations for the needy. Kathmandu and Karnali Province have not done enough. This is a war. We are hanging by a thread, how much longer before it breaks? 
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/our-health-system-cant-contain-the-pandemic/">“Our health system can’t contain the pandemic”</a>, Nepali Times

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This is war

<img width="1366" height="871" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83b69c7e80680e067751jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Nepal’s first wave of the coronavirus last year now looks like a ripple, and what the country is now witnessing is the main eruption. 
A lot of the attention is on Kathmandu Valley because more than half the daily new Covid-19 cases are here. But it is the Tarai districts bordering India that have been ravaged first, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/as-india-peaks-covid-19-spreads-rapidly-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">just like last year</a>, but on a much vaster scale. 
Epidemiologists say what happens in India arrives in Nepal four weeks later, and the border cities precede Kathmandu by two weeks. Banke district, for example, which is the gateway to Nepal for most returnees from India, is the second most affected after Kathmandu, with 4,811 <a href="https://covid19.mohp.gov.np/covid/englishSituationReport/6091313e5e4ad_SitRep450_COVID-19_4-05-2021_EN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">active cases</a>. 
Banke’s positivity rate is shocking: <a href="https://covid19.mohp.gov.np/covid/englishSituationReport/6091313e5e4ad_SitRep450_COVID-19_4-05-2021_EN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">210 of the 299 PCR tests</a> at Nepalganj Medical College (NMC) in Kohalpur in 24 hours on Tuesday were positive -- 19 times higher than the rate a month earlier.
The doubling time for the infection at Bheri Hospital in Nepalganj is only eight days. The hospital did 1.6% of all the tests nationwide in the past two months, but had 5.35% of the new cases in that time. 
One would have thought that the first wave would have prepared Banke and indeed Nepal for this one. But what is happening now is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-covid-tsunami/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tsunami</a>.
Last year, when we caught up with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/quarantine-guidelines-impossible-to-meet-local-governments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deputy Mayor Uma Thapa Magar of Nepalganj</a>, she was trying to enforce mandatory quarantine on returnees from India, and trying to make sense of a virus that no one knew much about. The mixed directives or inadequate resources from the federal government did not help. Municipalities were left to fend for themselves. 
“We were learning as we went along, this time we are dealing with a completely different virus," says Deputy Mayor Magar. "Last year the patient numbers were manageable, even with home isolation. This year, a high share of those who test positive need hospital beds with oxygen. If we cannot provide oxygen, we lose them. There is enough oxygen, but not enough cylinders." 
The first wave was a dress rehearsal for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/unmasking-the-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">second one</a>. Local leaders have learnt that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-india-connection-in-nepals-covid-19-status/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the border is the chokepoint</a>, and 70% of cases initially were among those with travel history. At the Indian border, health personnel are working in three shifts to screen inbound Nepalis with antigen tests. Those testing negative are kept in holding centres, then transported to home districts by local governments. Positive patients are kept in isolation in Nepalganj, or taken to their domiciles with the support of the Red Cross. These pre-established networks from the first wave have made the work smoother, but the sheer numbers have overwhelmed local capacity. 
Bheri Hospital had 140 beds and NMC had 50, which had been expanded to 220 and 300 during the first wave. As our report this week shows, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-designates-more-hospitals-for-covid-19-treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepalganj has also added isolation centres</a>, including with oxygen supply, to reduce the pressure on the hospitals. But even with all this, it is not enough.
“We are operating beyond capacity,” says Prakash Bahadur Thapa, the physician who heads Bheri Hospital, sounding fatigued on the phone. “Of the 277 patients now, 180 need oxygen and 9 are on ventilator support, 77 in ICU beds. We are using up to 400 oxygen cylinders daily, before Covid we needed only 10-20 per day.”
More than 100 staff at Bheri Hospital have tested positive. More support has been added, but even doctors and nurses with mild symptoms are caring for patients in the Covid-19 wards. A bed is available only when a patient recovers or dies. Says Thapa, “There is no comparison between the first and the second wave, and the next two months will be difficult.”  
The number of deaths is also higher during the current spread, and even the Nepal Army is overwhelmed in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-electric-crematorium-running-non-stop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">management of bodies</a>. We asked Thapa what is most urgently needed. His reply: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-designates-more-hospitals-for-covid-19-treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more hospitals need to be included as Covid-19 facilities</a>. Just two hospitals with limited beds are already inadequate. 
Nepalganj shows that local governments are best placed to react urgently to the ground situation. But Deputy Mayor Thapa Magar says the scale of this crisis means that they need help with medical supplies, oxygen, cylinders, setting up more isolation centres. Voluntary organisations can also help by mobilising awareness about using masks and avoiding crowds. The only way to stay alive in the pandemic is not to fall sick in the first place. 
Physician Thapa at Bheri Hospital puts it bluntly: “In the coming days, it will be the availability of oxygen that will determine how many live and how many die.” 
An exasperated Sunil Singh, chair of Ward 2, says Nepalganj must declare a health emergency. “Imagine if this was an earthquake or a flood disaster, what would our response be? More medical supplies, more health staff, temporary health centres, food rations for the needy. Kathmandu and Karnali Province have not done enough. This is a war. We are hanging by a thread, how much longer before it breaks? 
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/our-health-system-cant-contain-the-pandemic/">“Our health system can’t contain the pandemic”</a>, Nepali Times

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121120/636b8d7f9c7e80680e06b350jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"/><figcaption>Photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121120/636b8d849c7e80680e06b351jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121120/636b8d879c7e80680e06b352jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">One week into my US tour, Europe was being ravaged by COVID-19, and America had belatedly begun to come out of denial about the pandemic. President Trump announced a ban on non-Americans flying to the United States. Europeans already there were scrambling to get out.Our nine-member group from the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan had been briefed at the Environment Protection Agency in Washington DC, and had arrived in New Orleans to meet activists who worked on relief after Hurricane Katrina. There were reports of an outbreak in California where we were headed next.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-lockdown-to-be-extended/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal lockdown to be extended</a><a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-nepal-should-plan-to-exit-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Nepal should plan to exit lockdown</a>, Ramesh KumarAfraid we might be stranded by flight bans, the organisers decided to send us home. Soon, I was on a 24-hour journey from New Orleans to Kathmandu, via London and Doha. Along the way the airline lost my checked-in luggage in Heathrow, and I have given up hope of ever getting it back.Since landing in Kathmandu in mid-March in one of the last regular flights, I have been in self-quarantine. As a health and environment reporter at Nepali Times, I have been covering the pandemic from home, connecting to our virtual newsroom on Zoom.I did not have any symptoms during that time, but because we have elderly family members, I maintained a strict isolation, obsessively sanitising everything I touch, wearing a mask even when I have locked myself in my room.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-vs-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal Vs COVID-19</a>, Rastraraj Bhandari<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/prevention-while-searching-for-a-cure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prevention while searching for cure</a>, Buddha BasnyatWhen we got a call on Monday from the Municipality to come for testing, I was relieved because it meant that the government’s contact tracing system was working. Local governments were tracking down everyone in Lalitpur who had come back from abroad in the past month.I was never scared for myself, but for others in the family since the virus is so infectious. I extensively researched Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and what they entailed.That Tuesday morning I took a few steps out of my house for the first time in a month. Everything still looked and smelled the same, except the streets were deserted. We decided to walk to the Lagankhel testing centre, and on the way I had to tie my shoelace twice. Each time, I hand sanitised myself after I was done. I had turned into a certified germophobe.We avoided the main roads, and it was hot – Kathmandu had gone from winter to summer in the month I spent in self-isolation indoors. Buildings on the road to Lagankhel advertising ‘Study in Australia’ and ‘Learn Korean Language’ looked deserted, except for a few people peeking out of the windows.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-rapid-tests-are-doing-more-harm-than-good/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Why rapid tests are doing more harm than good</a>, Ramu Sapkota<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-must-hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-the-worst/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal must hope for the best, prepare for the worst</a>, Buddha BasnyatIronically, the tent for mass testing was placed right beside the temple where the idol of Machhindranath is bathed in milk before it is placed in the chariot for its annual festival. If it was not for the lockdown, just about now they would be preparing the temple for the jatra.Police were outside the tent telling people queuing up for tests to maintain a safe distance. The media was present in force in reflective green vests taking photos and videos of the returnees being tested, giving me a taste of what it feels like to be on the other side.All of us in the queue wore masks. Some even sported surgical gloves and sunglasses. Few wore jackets and hoodies. The person behind me was busy making calls to get his relative to also come for the test.Under the tent, there were puddles from the morning rain and flies were buzzing around nearby. They were all reminders that we already had a problem of unsanitary conditions spreading disease before this new infection came around.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/post-pandemic-mental-health-epidemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Post-pandemic mental health epidemic</a>, Sonia Awale<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/shape-up-the-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shape up the lockdown</a>, Marty LoganIt was my turn next. I was given sanitiser to apply on my hands. Two medical officers in PPEs asked my name, age, address, country I returned from and when I had flown in. Interestingly, a municipality official at the desk already knew my particulars and replied before I could. She was the person who had called my house that morning.We had been reporting on how despite the lockdown, Nepal was lagging behind in testing, but I was impressed with the coordination and the thoroughness of how it was being done. Local governments from the ward to municipality were being proactive in house-to-house contact tracing for new arrivals and symptoms. Someone was doing their homework, and that was reassuring.A lab technician drew a drop of blood from my finger, and gave me a cotton ball with disinfectant. That was it. Small kits with blood droplets were neatly arranged in multiple rows and columns, mine was placed next to them. So, this was a RDT, and not a PCR which would mean collecting an oral and nasopharyngeal swab sample.The test result came later that day – all of us in Lagankhel had tested negative. My blood did not have antibodies, which meant I had not been exposed to the virus.At home, I am still not taking any chances. I will continue to self-isolate amidst a nationwide lockdown. As for my parents, this is the first time they are happy that I failed a test.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXCENWJLuKk&amp;t=6sSonia Awale is Associate Editor at Nepali Times, is a student of public health, and covers environment and healthcare issues.

Sonia Awale

How COVID-19 puts us to the test

<figure><img width="1059" height="604" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121116/636b8cd29c7e80680e06b319jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Shekhar Golchha, Pashupati Murarka and Sudhir Mittal of Shree Airlines handing over PCR kits donated by Singapore's Temasek Foundation to Dipendra Taman Singh from the Ministry of Health on Friday after they were flown from Singapore to Kathmandu on special Shree Airlines flights. </figcaption></figure>Singapore’s <a href="https://www.temasekfoundation.org.sg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Temasek Foundation</a> has provided 10,000 PCR test kits to Nepal for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-extends-covid-19-testing-but-no-new-cases/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detecting COVID-19 cases</a> which will be deployed to frontline health workers to test patients all across the country.Called ‘Fortitude Kit 2.0’ the kits are designed by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*START) to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The all-in-one 1-step RT-PCR kits come with all materials required for the reaction, which includes primer probes mix, enzyme mix, the positive control, negative control and internal control template. “In these difficult times, Temasek Foundation stands in solidarity with our friends from Nepal,” said Benedict Cheong, CEO of Temasek Foundation International. “We hope these test kits will be helpful to hospitals and medical professionals who are bravely managing the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-must-hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-the-worst/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID-19 situation in Nepal</a>.”<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-rapid-tests-are-doing-more-harm-than-good/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why rapid tests are doing more harm than good</a>, Ramu SapkotaThe kits were flown from Singapore to Kathmandu on a special Shree Airlines CRJ 700 flight on Friday organised by Shekhar Golchha, Pashupati Murarka and Sudhir Mittal of Shree Airlines, and handed over to the Ministry of Health for distribution to hospitals across Nepal. Vijayendra Baral at Singapore General Hospital, and in Kathmandu Ranjit Acharya and Neil Pande facilitated the process. <img width="1116" height="1280" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121116/636b8cd59c7e80680e06b31ajpeg.jpg" alt="">Temasek Foundation had also helped Nepal strengthen public schools after <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-two-disasters-in-west-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the 2015 earthquake</a> and in post-disaster recovery management jointly with <a href="https://www.singhealth.com.sg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SingHealth</a> and Ministry of Health in Nepal. The project built systems and capacity in the area of disaster healthcare training and management for the pre-hospital and in-hospital environments so as to improve preparations for future disasters. The project trained 432 specialist medical trainers and hospital leaders, 206 nurses and 38 physiotherapists in hospitals and venues across  Kathmandu, Biratnagar and Nepalganj and culminated in a mass disaster simulation droll in Kosi Zonal Hospital in November 2019. <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-to-test-covid-19-test-kits-from-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal to test COVID-19 test kits from China</a>, Ramu SapkotaA 30-member team identified by the Ministry Of Health Nepal as potential future master trainers were also travelled to Singapore in April 2019 for a 5-day training in disaster management.SingHealth has also signed an agreement with TU Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu to collaborate in Paediatrics and neonatology, liver transplants, orthopedics amongst other subspecialties. Friends of SingHealth also provided pediatric anaesthesia equipment for children having eye surgery at Tilganga Institute of Opthalmology.SingHealth is the largest healthcare cluster in Singapore with a network of acute hospitals, national speciality centres, community hospitals and polyclinics offering over 40 clinical specialities.

10,000 COVID-19 test kits to Nepal from Singapore

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8bca9c7e80680e06b2c1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="854"/><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8bcc9c7e80680e06b2c2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="854">Doctors in Jumla collects swab of a patient on 7 April. Photos: DHIRAJ GURUNGOn 13 April, the nose and throat swab of a woman in Kailali district tested positive for the COVID-19. The 65-year-old who was in quarantine had previously tested negative in a Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and sent home.But only three days later, a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-extends-covid-19-testing-but-no-new-cases/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) report</a> confirmed that she was infected with novel coronavirus, upon which she was taken to Seti Provincial Hospital for isolation. She is one of the eight people who had their swab and blood samples collected for both RDT and PCR, but officials didn’t wait for the PCR report.“She should not have been sent home without waiting for the PCR report confirmation. It was a grave mistake because she could have spread the virus after coming out of quarantine,” says Sameer Dixit, researcher at the Centre for Molecular Dynamics in Kathmandu.In fact the RDT can show false negatives in people for up to a week after infection because their bodies have not produced sufficient anti-bodies to be detected. In fact, public health officials say Nepal should have gone directly for PCR like Korea and other countries instead of RDTs.As of 16 April, 15,800 people have been tested for COVID-19, using both RDT and PCR. But a lack of distinction in the specificity of the two test methods in the public consciousness has led to unnecessary panic and stigmatisation of people and entire communities.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-must-hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-the-worst/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal must hope for the best, prepare for the worst</a>, Buddha Basnyat and Sanjeev adhikari<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8bce9c7e80680e06b2c3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8bcf9c7e80680e06b2c4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">Health workers in Lalitpur conduct rapid diagnostic tests on 14 April for people who have come from abroad recently. Photos: BIKRAM RAIThe rapid diagnostic test can only monitor if an individual has developed antibodies to fight against the COVID-19, and can be detected only a week after infection and for at least six months after. The test cannot identify the virus itself and therefore cannot verify if the person has an active infection.When the virus enters a human body, the body’s natural immune system is activated and secretes a protein to kill the virus called antibody. There are two types of antibodies: Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and Immunoglobulin M (IgM). It takes at least six days for IgM and 15 days for IgG to develop after a virus enters the body.RDT kits being used to test COVID-19 can detect both types of antibodies, which is why rapid tests conducted in the early stage of infection will give a negative result even if the individual is actually infected. The case in point is the patient from Kailali who took a RDT before it could have detected the virus. The real-time PCR however was able to detect the coronavirus in her swab sample.“Tests conducted without proper scientific knowledge and guidelines will do more harm than good,” stresses lab specialist Umesh Prasad Gupta.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ke-garne-attitude-kills-people/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ke garne attitude kills people</a>, Laxmi BasnetNepal has not yet developed a protocol to guide healthcare workers conducting mass testing for COVID-19, and the government’s decision to use RDT for mass testing actually contradicts the WHO recommendation and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.Those protocols require RDT to be conducted only for individuals who have undergone 14 days of quarantine, healthcare workers, or for people placed in isolation in hospitals. And even if the result turns out to be negative, a retest with PCR is mandatory. High risk patients are to be placed under quarantine until the PCR confirmation.On the other hand, if a suspected individual tests negative in PCR, he/she should still be placed in quarantine and undergo RDT after 10 days. Only if the second test is negative, is the person to be released.The WHO has also recommended countries to use the real-time PCR for the COVID-19 testing because RDT is only 86% sensitive, and cannot detect new infections.However in Nepal, the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on 4 April directed the health ministry to retest all people whose blood samples tested positive on RDT. The Health Ministry also decided to retest 20% of all negative RDT with PCR, when in fact PCR should have been the basis of further investigation.On 1 April, the Ministry of Health instructed that 75,000 RDT kits imported from China by a private contractor <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-to-test-covid-19-test-kits-from-china/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-to-test-covid-19-test-kits-from-china/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587217332074000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG1Z_W10XJJ0rgDFUS-jmgFusJQxw">not be used because of doubts about their reliability.</a> The importer, Omni Business Corporate Internaitonal (OBCI) was also accused to inflating the cost of the kits and using its connections to the Prime Minister Oli to do the deal on 25 March.The Department of Health also announced on 2 April that it had cancelled the contract with Omni and confiscated its Rs50 million deposit. However, it looks like Omni is still in business and the Department said 30,000 of the rapid diagnostic kits that Omni brought are the ones being used all over the country to test people who have come from abroad recently.

Why rapid tests are doing more harm than good

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

coronavirus-test

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Why rapid tests are doing more harm than good

Turkish Basketball

The Last Days of the Khampa

Turkish to Seville

Digital protection for Nepal’s art