Hira Bahadur Thapa

The COVID-19 is the public health crisis that has killed little more than 519,000 people and sickened close to 10.5 million worldwide. Such numbers are spiking every day in some countries though declining in some others. However, in the opinion of Dr. Tom Frieden, a former Director of Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, we needn’t panic because 99 per cent people who get infected by the novel coronavirus will recover.
Some experts have contended that we cannot have economy running with containment measures in place. This is partially true. Livelihoods require to be sustained and therefore, economic activities cannot remain suspended for long. But in helping countries recover economically in the post COVID-19 era, there has to be strong health infrastructure that can take care of public health.

Balance
Protecting health is not getting in the way of economic recovery. In fact, it is the route to recovery because only healthy people can make useful contributions in economic activities. A good balance between health requirements and economic needs is the order of the day. Against the recent background of reopening of businesses in many countries, including Nepal, still struggling with the virus, a few tips for people to observe carry a lot of significance. Noted epidemiologists advise us to sincerely follow the principle of 3 W’s - Wear masks, Wash your hands and Watch your distance -, which can remarkably help lower the spread of the infectious disease that has ravaged the world economically.
In our own context of reopening of economy allowing the hard-hit bread-earners pull on their existence despite the spiraling new cases. The observance of the above principle seems doable and worth imitation. Following health guidelines has been emphasised time and again as revealed in the daily public briefing of the Ministry of Health and Population. Sometimes the ministry spokesperson is expressing surprise regarding our behaviour even in this period of partial lockdown which has been extended till July 22.
In case of Nepal, 94 per cent infection is imported and 6 per cent is locally transmitted as explained by the health minister. But this situation may not continue for long and get easily worsened if the government’s containment plans that include massive tests, contact tracing, quarantining and isolation are not effectively implemented. As yet we don’t have the dangerous phenomenon of “super spreaders” in which infected people infect many others.
Unless the poorly managed conditions of quarantines in the districts are properly addressed, curbing measures may not yield desired outcomes. Considering this, the government is trying its best to rapidly expand testing through RDT-PCR methods though expensive. Reportedly, the health authorities have been telling that more testing laboratories equipped with machines would be in place shortly as a result of which about 10,000 persons could be tested on a daily basis. But things are easier said than done and whether the government would fulfill its commitments remains to be seen.
Fighting a global pandemic like COVD-19 is not the sole responsibility of government only. We as civilised members of the community need to behave responsibly by adhering to the WHO health protocol. Our daily lifestyles should conform to the guidelines provided by the country’s health authorities. Awareness campaign run by the government aired through audio visual media is useful. The crucial point is if we are practicing what has been advised to follow.
Some of us in the urban areas are seemingly ignoring the government advice and prioritising civil liberties over health. Wearing masks hinder our smiles and also make us difficult to breathe while walking. We inadvertently blunder by turning a deaf ear to preventing health measures. By declining to cover our mouth and nose using mask to prevent transmission of virus, we endanger our lives.
This scribe was astonished at the behaviour of his relatives whom he met in the hospital cabin recently when the elderly mom was undergoing treatment. They were not covering their faces. They just complained that the attending doctors and nurses were reminding them to wear masks. Even the octogenarian patient wasn’t wearing mask. This is just an example of how such carelessness on our part is unknowingly contributing to the spread of the disease.
Paradoxically, as infection rates and death tolls rise, the people have started moving with less precaution in place. That means very few people are wearing masks and maintaining social distancing as if lockdown is not in effect.
Understood that a large majority of workers have become unemployed in the transportation sector because restriction on public vehicles is not lifted yet, there is a pressure building from them who have protested demanding either relaxation or making banks exempt them from the monthly interest from which they have burrowed for purchasing the taxis.

Precautionary measures
This situation impels the government to take a rationalised decision on public health, because it is also imperative that people are protected not only from disease but also from starvation. One thing is clear as succinctly commented by Dr. Tom Frieden, who has said, “There is no reason to think that COVID-19 is going to magically or miraculously go away. It remains an unsolved riddle”.
People make judgments about what risk they want to take. The role of government is not to tell people what risks they should take. It should tell them what the risks are so that people can decide for themselves. Dr. Frieden believes that COVID-19 is not a zombie apocalypse, we are not all going to die. Still appropriate precautionary measures are as necessary as were when the lockdown started in March last.

(Thapa was Foreign Relations Advisor to the Prime Minister from 2008 to 2009. thapahira17@gmail.com)