Over the past few weeks Nepal has faced a new wave of the coronavirus COVID-19, causing an alarmingly large spike in the number of new infections and deaths as it spreads rapidly across the country. Health experts predict that the wave of infections Nepal is currently experiencing is highly likely to follow a similar trajectory to that of India's recent, ongoing second wave. The lives and livelihoods of all the people of Nepal are rapidly and fixedly approaching a crisis point.
In the first wave mass unemployment and just as people were returning to work and this new wave once again has created a health and food crisis. The rural communities do not have a doctor or a medical facility and without an ambulance or an available car it is difficult to get to hospital. Hospitals and medical facilities do not have enough beds and even if there is a bed available many are unable to afford one. Nepal must provide free health care for the underserved throughout Nepal.
ADWAN is donating PPEs, KN95 masks, face shields, gloves, handheld thermometer, oximeters, oxygen cylinders to10 local health posts and face-masks, soap, hand sanitizers to people. And in our public awareness campaign, we promote the importance of wearing marks everywhere, to frequently wash hands for 20 seconds, how to use hand sanitizer and to keep social/physical distance wherever possible and most important advice to people is "don't go out from home without urgency".
The knowledge of health safety and infectious disease prevention is the best key to keep people safe from COVID-19 and epidemics that may emerge in the future. Providing the tools and knowledge will become intergenerational and save many lives.
