Slow, unsteady

April 7, 2020 08:51 am

Nepal’s response to the threat of coronavirus has been too slow from the very beginning. Come to think of it, the threat of alarm about this deadly virus was raised as early as late December, 2019 when cases appeared in China. By January, it was known to everyone in Nepal and the world about the rapidity of spread, the prospect of recovery and the fatality rate. Within this month, the first case was reported in the US as well as in other countries. By January end, the WHO had declared it a global public health emergency. Nepal too had the first coronavirus case this month. In February, the outbreak spread as far as Italy and Iran and the number of fatalities was fast increasing in these countries. And on March 8, the WHO declared it a global pandemic. What were Nepali authorities doing all this while?