Opinion

Third Wave: Why We Need a Covid ‘Policy’ as Opposed to a Covid ‘Response’

Published On: July 3, 2021 03:55 PM NPT By: Apurva Singh


It is high time that the government formulated a strategic approach and tied up with nations that are willing to provide Covid vaccines within stringent timelines and official commitments.

The second wave of the pandemic has wreaked havoc in the nation with concerns about vaccine and oxygen supply, and a while back even the likelihood of a potentially new and local variant of concern. Perhaps the biggest challenge for Nepal once the second wave is over is to ensure not to ‘forget’ the second wave. This sentence might seem strange at first, but it is a veritable concern for Nepal. Disasters, especially ones that disproportionately affect the underprivileged, are almost always forgotten very easily once they pass. The key underlying idea about the same is the assumption that they would never happen again. The biggest example is the 2015 earthquake. Six years down the line, what have we truly done about the earthquake to make Nepal a safer and more earthquake-resilient country? Would one not say that it has been forgotten? The second wave has been so damaging largely because the responsible government bodies ‘forgot’ about the first wave. The shock that reminds the government is only at the eleventh hour when it is already too late for so many.

The Covid response by the Nepal government should be called what it is: a disaster. Without delving much into the failures of the response, which include, impunity for middle persons and usurpers, lack of proactive approach in acquisition of vaccines and medicines, and a bizarre yet ever so familiar lust for the ‘chair’ and power by leaders over everything else, Nepal needs to examine what next to do to avoid repeating such chain of failures. While one could write a book about each of these failures, I want to write about how given that we are in this situation now, the third wave can, if not completely be avoided, be dampened. The solution lies largely in formulating an international and domestic policy and letting go of the ‘come what may’ response that Nepal has adopted so far.

International strategy

The approach the government has taken so far has been ad-hoc and knee-jerk to the intensity of infections. The government knew clearly that there was a real possibility of a second wave but it did not act for reasons that nobody would ever truly know. And as the possibility of a third wave becomes more real, what must the government do next? Admittedly, a complete lockdown is not sustainable in the long run since it disrupts daily life for so many. Normal life with Covid restrictions have been flouted tremendously which have led to the onset of the second wave to begin with. The answer to the steps to prevent (and if not prevent, tackle) the third wave is to rely on diplomatic ties and procure vaccines, oxygen cylinders and medicines free from usurpers and middlepersons. It is high time that the government formulated a strategic approach and tied up with nations that are willing to provide such vaccines within stringent timelines and official commitments. This needs to be coupled with a strategic response to distribution by maintaining a chart of areas of high and low concern. Many countries are leaps ahead while Nepal suffers yet from a major vaccine deficiency (much less than 30% as of now). It is hard to obtain vaccines and medicines once the third wave already sets in, so the best time to act is now. Moreover, such ties should go parallel and hand-in-hand with the measures that are undertaken domestically, which are also equally important.

Domestic response

While accurately predicting the intensity and timing of the third wave might be difficult, the government needs to adopt premeditated measures based on both the worst- and best-case outcome, and also everything in between. A complete lockdown once the disaster strikes might be the only appropriate response, but the government could easily avoid such disasters. Instead of relying on harsh lockdown measures that disproportionately affect the underprivileged (such as daily wage earners, street vendors, etc.), everyday Covid restrictions based on number of people, indoor /outdoor policies at restaurants and public spaces are indeed very workable.

Furthermore, there should be a stringent measure on wearing masks during the period between the second and the potential third wave, and not just during the onset of the waves themselves. There are those who specialise in disaster management response, healthcare policy, and effects of infectious diseases and pandemics. We are yet to see such experts being rounded by the government to form a committee that would formulate the specifics of what has already been mentioned in this piece, and advise the government on effective policy- and decision-making. Furthermore, a domestic response should also encompass protecting daily wage earners, small business owners, and the unemployed through well-formulated schemes. A response wherein the people survive the virus but die of starvation is not desirable in any way.

In conclusion, there is so much more that the country can do to lessen the impact of a potential third wave. While some might say that the time is still not near to worry about a third wave, I would argue that the time to act against the third wave passes with every passing second the government ‘forgets’ about its possibility. 

(Apurva Singh is a lawyer with a passion for law, policy and international relations.)

 


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