COVID-19 cases in China have been rapidly increasing in various major cities in recent weeks as the virus sweeps through China largely unchecked. Nepal’s northern neighbor had been largely sheltered from the virus for much of the pandemic. But it is now reportedly experiencing “the world’s biggest surge in infections” after the hardline Covid-19 containment measures implemented in China earlier were loosened earlier this month following protests.

KATHMANDU, Sept 8: The Human Development Index (HDI) declined globally for the past two years due to impacts of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine back-to-back, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has not vanished away altogether, the Nepal representative of the World Health Organization suggested that there are several steps that Nepal can take to effectively manage the pandemic.

LONDON, May 31: The World Health Organization’s top monkeypox expert said she doesn’t expect the hundreds of cases reported to date to turn into another pandemic, but acknowledged there are still many unknowns about the disease, including how exactly it’s spreading and whether the suspension of mass smallpox immunization decades ago may somehow be speeding its transmission.

KATHMANDU, May 26: Economist Swarnim Wagle on Wednesday said the government needs to connect social protection to poverty, vulnerability and inequality in the new poverty discourse created in the aftermath of COVID-19 impacts.

KATHMANDU, April 7: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Prem Bahadur Ale has underscored the need for support from all sectors for reviving the tourism industry which has been hit hard by COVID-19 for two years.

The pandemic sent global hunger soaring, but now the war in Ukraine is making the problem far worse. Since Russia and Ukraine together supply 30% of global wheat exports, a big chunk of the world is losing access to food.

‘RRR’ Hindi is off to a decent start as it has recorded the second highest advance booking post the pandemic. While the figures are mediocre, it has managed to grab some attention of the audience. The top spot is held by ’83, which got the Christmas holiday benefit last year.

GENEVA, March 18: A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Friday that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic was a long way off, citing a rise in cases in its latest weekly data.

GENEVA, Jan 25: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that it was dangerous to assume the Omicron variant would herald the end of COVID-19's acutest phase, exhorting nations to stay focused to beat the pandemic.

PARIS, Jan 2: France became the sixth country in the world to report more than 10 million COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to official data published on Saturday.

NEW YORK, Dec 25: Commercial airlines around the world canceled more than 4,500 flights over the Christmas weekend, as a mounting wave of COVID-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant created greater uncertainty and misery for holiday travelers.

Dec 11: Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the origin of the virus tormenting the world remains shrouded in mystery.

The pandemic, politics, pervasive anxiety over the climate and the economy. Did 2021 leave us any time to ponder anything else? As we limp our way into a new year, there are a few more things we’d like to leave behind, from pop culture’s obsession with all things apocalyptic to the well-meaning but exhausting lay dancers on TikTok

KATHMANDU, Nov 11: The government has called on the pandemic-hit poor households to apply for receiving a cash relief worth Rs 10,000 each.

Fireworks boomed as the visitors at Shanghai Disneyland waited for their COVID-19 test results, surrounded by healthcare workers dressed from head to toe in the white protective suits.

“It was the pandemic, I was home and I just got really obsessed with the fact that there had been this camp 10 minutes away from where we were staying,” said the New York-born writer, whose plays include “Small Mouth Sounds” — set in a silent retreat — and the divorce comedy “Grand Horizons,” which had a Broadway run just before the virus struck.

KATHMANDU, Sept 3: Nepal welcomed around 6,000 foreign visitors in the month of August, which is almost double than that of the previous month.

As the pandemic took hold, a Kansas City-area meeting and event planning business began hawking “I Shake Hands” stickers to help ease awkward social encounters.

TOKYO, August 9: Tokyo doused its Olympic flame on Sunday in a ceremony that echoed the restraint of a Games held without spectators and transformed by the global pandemic, dazzling sport and deeply person turmoil.

KATHMANDU, August 8: The number of Nepali workers going abroad in search of foreign employment declined sharply by 55 percent in the last fiscal year due to the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic.

KATHMANDU, Aug 2: Association of Former Career Ambassadors of Nepal (AFCAN) has held a webinar on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on migrant Nepali workers.

When the first cruise ship since the start of the pandemic sailed through the Venice lagoon last month, hundreds of people rallied on land and small boats in protest.

LONDON, July 29: From Tunisia and South Africa to Colombia, social unrest is sweeping through developing countries, a reminder of income inequalities that have deepened during the COVID-19 crisis.

KATHMANDU, July 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the threshold for provisioning on loan loss to up to five percent on the credit provided by the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) targeted at the COVID-affected businesses.

July 25: NBC's broadcast of the Tokyo Olympic Games opening ceremony drew 16.7 million viewers, the smallest U.S. television audience for the event in the past 33 years, according to preliminary data from Comcast-owned(CMCSA.O) NBCUniversal on Saturday.

A look at what’s happening the world of music as artists announce their touring plans and concert venues plan their reopenings after being shuttered by the pandemic.

Netflix reported its worst slowdown in subscriber growth in eight years as people emerge from their pandemic cocoons. So it’s adding a new attraction to its marquee: Video games.

TOKYO, July 18: Two athletes living in the Olympic Village have tested positive for COVID-19, the first to do so with the Tokyo Games opening on Friday.

TOKYO, July 9: Fans will be banned from Tokyo-area stadiums and arenas when the Olympics begin in two weeks, the city’s governor said Thursday after meeting with organizers of the pandemic-postponed games.

Fifteen months after the pandemic transformed Las Vegas from flamboyant spectacle to ghost town, Sin City is back.

TOKYO, July 4: Tokyo residents went to the polls on Sunday to pick members of its metropolitan assembly just 19 days before the Olympic Games begin, as surveys showed Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was likely to win the vote.

Bangkok "tuk tuk" taxi driver Samran Thammasa, 39, had never heard of K-pop star Jessica Jung before the coronavirus pandemic, but now the singer's Thai fans are helping him survive the loss of tourist customers.

Child Development Society (CDS) in coordination with World Vision International Nepal supported a total of 10 oxygen cylinders with hygiene and safety materials to Chandragiri Municipality, Balaju-16 and Kirtipur Municipality on Wednesday.

KATHMANDU, June 5: The prohibitory orders enforced by the government to tackle the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic have directly affected around 70 percent of the production businesses across the country.

The Cannes Film Festival on Thursday unveiled a lineup of films from big-name auteurs — including Wes Anderson, Asghar Farhadi, Mia Hansen-Løve and Sean Penn — for its 74th edition, an in-person, summertime event that aims to make a stirring return in July after being canceled last year because of the pandemic.

Residents of a picturesque Russian village have seen the price of their land double as people from Moscow and other cities snap up properties as a refuge from COVID-19 where they can work remotely.

Many hospital beds are full. Waiting lists for outpatient treatment are bulging. And teens and adults seeking help for eating disorders are often finding it takes months to get an appointment.

In this critical scenario, government has enforced prohibitory order since April 29 where only essential services are in operation while most of the services have remained shut until the prohibitory order is lifted.  Here, Republica's team talked to employees and customers at Bluebird Mart, Durbar Marg who shared their views on prohibitory order.

We used to fly high in the sky, Suddenly something made us cry! Our wings used to be seen, For a year, they are weakened!

Much like the round clock faces, gears and planets that often populate his artwork, Robert Seaman has come full circle.

KATHMANDU, May 11: Nepal’s remittance earnings in the first nine months of the current fiscal year rose by 16.5 percent compared to that of the same period of the last fiscal year, despite a massive drop in the outgoing number of migrant workers.

The more certain someone is about covid-19, the less you should trust them In 2019, the medical historian Mark Honigsbaum concluded his book The Pandemic Century by saying: “The only thing that is certain is that there will be new plagues and new pandemics. It is not a question of if, but when.”

KATHMANDU, May 5: The second wave of COVID-19 has fuelled the worsening conditions mainly of the people in low income and vulnerable groups, which will aggravate the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor, said Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel.

KATHMANDU, April 28: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected that Nepal’s economic growth rate will stand at 3.1 percent in the current fiscal year, which is higher than the ones forecast by similar other international institutions.

An Oscars unlike any before will get underway Sunday night, with history on the line in major categories and a telecast retooled for the pandemic.

The pandemic has torn a multibillion-dollar bite out of the fabric of Europe’s fashion industry, stopped runway shows and forced brands to show their designs digitally instead.

The 100th Miss America will be crowned before a live audience at the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut following a year of virtual appearances and delayed competitions due to the pandemic, organizers announced Thursday.

The already existing challenges faced by the informal workers are now unambiguously exposed by the pandemic and further aggravated by sudden demands for COVID- 19 testing, quarantine measures, sanitizing equipment, medical visitations, healthy and immune boosting diet etc.

Gabor Kuntner had been planning to install a hot tub in his garden in a Budapest suburb for years but never got around to it until the pandemic prompted him to rush out and buy one to give his family some respite during lockdown.