Control the border, control the virus
Every year hundreds of people in the far-western region of Nepal return from their jobs in India to celebrate Chaitali Mela in Bajhang. The festival, one of the largest in the region, is celebrated in the month of Chaitra and usually sees migrant workers return in droves to get their blessings and take part in the yearly festival. This time too people returned but, as India was getting ravaged by the coronavirus, also brought back the virus with them. While Kathmandu and major cities were going into lockdown with the second wave of coronavirus cases hitting Nepal, the villages were thought to be relatively safe with social distancing and mask-wearing rules openly flaunted.
After the festival though, cases of coronavirus started being seen en masse. Many self-isolated while many had to go to Chainpur Hospital which was about seven to eight hours away by foot. The spread of the virus had limited the options for travellers as jeeps, that covered the distance in around two to three hours, willing to travel during this time were few and far between.
The issue and the cause of the spread of the virus as was identified by the villagers was through the workers coming in from India. The village, like many others across the country, relies heavily on India for its economic activities and thus like many others have suffered from widespread covid cases during this second wave.
All of this has been made possible due to two main factors. Firstly, India grappled with a new strain of coronavirus which is deemed highly contagious. The B.1.617.2 variant was first reported in India and later was classified as a variant of concern by the WHO. This highly contagious strain had already crippled the Indian health system and as it travelled to Nepal it started spreading like wildfire.
Secondly and more importantly, the Nepal-India border is an open border. Many ways of crossing between the two countries exist that are not regulated. Some border markers even lie in between villages or private property. This has led many to bring the Delta variant of the coronavirus to Nepal from India. On top of that, border points between Nepal and India have also not been properly regulated at a time when strict checking and quarantine measures were required. On May 1, when covid cases had already begun reaching more than 5000, the Government of Nepal had just decided to close 22 of the 35 border points with India while weekly flights from Delhi still took place. Meanwhile, hardly any of the returnees were tested for the coronavirus or put into quarantine.
This can hardly be said to be due to the lack of resources as in the previous year during India’s first wave battle with the coronavirus when about one million Nepali migrant workers returned home, Nepal instituted testing and quarantine measures at border crossings. This time however the Nepali government was caught dramatically unprepared.
The covid cases are now in decline in Nepal as it is in India. But it means that Nepal needs to be prepared for the third wave. Both the first and second waves of the pandemic saw large numbers of people returning from India and bringing the virus with them. Stringent border regulation measures are therefore required with quarantine facilities built in the borders to help returnees successfully defeat the virus and rejoin their families in the country.
