A new variant of coronavirus first detected in the UK has been seen in at least 33 countries around the world, but authorities in Nepal are focusing on people returning only from the UK.
The Covid-19 Crisis Management Center has put people returning from the UK in hotel quarantine, while allowing arrivals from other countries to return home.
“We asked everyone who came back from abroad to stay in a detached home for 10 days and put those who came back from the UK into a hotel quarantine,” Dr. Roshan Pokhrel, chief expert at the Ministry of Health and Population, told the Post . “We will make new decisions about the quarantine of people who return from other countries after holding meetings with stakeholders.”
At least 200 people returned from the UK after the detection of the new variant of the coronavirus. Of them, several returnees tested positive for the coronavirus. Smear samples from everyone who tested positive were sent for a complete genome sequencing test to see if the detected virus was regular or the new variant.
Complete genome sequencing is a comprehensive analysis of all the DNA sequences in an organism’s genes. The researchers believe that sequencing the complete coronavirus genome may be instrumental in tracking the severity and properties of the virus.
Public health experts said the authorities in question were taking too long to recognize the level of risk and their current efforts have failed to prevent the entry of the new variant of the virus into the country.
“The new variant of the virus has been detected even in China, India and Pakistan,” Dr. Baburam Marasini, former director of the Division of Epidemiology and Disease Control, told the Post. “Focusing only on people who come back from the UK and letting others go home shows that we have learned nothing from our mistakes and failures.”
The existence of a new variant of the highly transmissible coronavirus was announced by the UK health secretary on December 14, after Covid test labs reported that an increasing number of their positive samples did not have the signal for one of the three genes that your PCR tests use to confirm the presence of the virus.
On December 22, Nepalese authorities instructed all international airlines not to bring passengers from the UK or in transit across the country as of December 24.
But despite the direction, people are returning from the UK via transit in other countries.
Even with the virus reaching more than 33 countries worldwide, authorities have focused only on those returning from the UK.
According to Business Insider, the new coronavirus variant has been detected in the United Kingdom, Holland, France, Japan, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Canada, Lebanon, Singapore, Australia, United Arab Emirates, India, South Korea, Finland, Pakistan, United States, Turkey, Belgium, Chile, Brazil, Malta, Norway, Portugal, China, Taiwan, Iceland, Ireland, Israel and Jordan.
To make matters worse, no one monitors whether people returning from abroad are quarantined or isolated.
Doctors say the lack of monitoring of infected people to see if they are quarantined is one of the reasons for the high prevalence of coronavirus in communities.
“All people who return from abroad should be quarantined and some agencies charged with monitoring them,” Dr. Prabhat Adhikari, an infectious disease and critical care specialist, told the Post. “The authorities must also take initiatives to bring technology to carry out the sequencing of the entire genome of the virus.”
In the absence of facilities for carrying out complete genome sequencing tests in the country, the authorities do not know whether the virus has entered the country or not.
Much remains to be known about the new variant, as it was detected only a few weeks ago, but according to the BBC, the new variant of the virus detected in the UK may be 70% more infectious than others circulating around the world.
South Africa is also struggling to contain a new wave of coronavirus infections, possibly linked to a genetic mutation of the virus.
Scientists studying new variants of the virus believe that the South African variant is more contagious than that seen in the UK and can affect young people more, and may be slightly more resistant to existing vaccines. There are also concerns that the South African variant could “reinfect” people who have already recovered from Covid-19.
Dr. Adhikari said that even though the new variant of the virus seen in the UK is less severe than the normal one, many people will be infected, meaning that health facilities will be overwhelmed within days if the virus spreads.
“The elderly and those with underlying diseases will be at risk even if the virus is less severe for other groups,” added Adhikari.