Should Nepal be bracing for fourth wave of COVID-19?

KATHMANDU, July 20: After more than four months, Nepal is once again witnessing the rise of new novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Nepal on Tuesday recorded 357 new cases of COVID-19, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP). The number was 457 on Monday.

Even if the COVID-19 test positivity is going up daily, the ministry has so far not declared the situation as the fourth wave of the disease. However, the public health experts maintain that the fourth wave of COVID-19 has already begun in Nepal.

Director at the Epidemiology & Disease Control Division (EDCD), Dr Chuman Lal Das said that the fourth wave of COVID-19 has already begun showing indications in the country. Dr Das also maintained that the BA.5 sub-variant of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 could be causing a surge in new cases recently.

According to Dr Babu Ram Marasaini, former director of EDCD, continuous surge in daily new cases of COVID-19 which was down to seven or eight cases a few weeks ago shows that the country has already been hit by the fourth wave of COVID-19.

Nepal has recorded 2,026 new cases of COVID-19 in the past eight days.

With the rise in the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals, medics and health workers are also testing positive for the virus. 

According to Dr Prawajol Shrestha at Bir Hospital, three doctors, three sanitation workers and two nurses have tested positive for the disease.

Likewise, the disease has been diagnosed in seven health workers in Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), according to Dr Niraj Bam.