As for Nepalese abroad, as of 26 July 2020, the Non-Resident Nepali Association has reported a total of 12,667 confirmed cases, 16,190 recoveries, and 161 deaths across 35 countries.
[6] Between January and March, Nepal took steps to prevent a widespread outbreak of the disease while preparing for it by procuring essential supplies, equipment and medicine, upgrading health infrastructure, training medical personnel, and spreading public awareness.
The pandemic has led to severe global economic disruption,[23] the postponement or cancellation of sporting, religious, political and cultural events,[24] and widespread shortages of supplies exacerbated by panic buying.
[25] [26] Schools, universities and colleges have closed either on a nationwide or local basis in 63 countries, affecting approximately 47 per cent of the world's student population.
Nepal lies in South Asia, one of the least developed and most densely populated world regions, that performs poorly in education as well as health care and sanitation metrics.
[40] Teku Hospital, the only one designated for handling infectious diseases, had built an isolation ward during the avian influenza outbreak a decade ago, but had never brought it into use, as it did not have experts to evaluate or maintain the required standards.
[41] As news of a new infectious disease in China broke, concerns were raised in Nepal over the high potential risk, the need to implement preventive measures and a severe lack of necessary medical equipment and infrastructure.
[49] The figures nearly doubled on a single day on 17 April, when 12 Indian nationals from Delhi, quarantined in a mosque in Bhulke of Udayapur, tested positive for the disease.
[citation needed] The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division devised its own treatment protocol in early February, based on the one developed by UN Health Agency, and directed all private hospitals to strictly follow the guidelines.
[41] On 29 February, the government formed a high level committee to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel.
[69] A meeting of the high-level coordination committee for prevention and control of COVID-19 on 17 March decided to add 115 ICU and 1,000 isolation beds in the Kathmandu Valley.
[73] On 21 March, around sixty passengers from COVID-19 affected countries that landed on Tribhuvan International Airport were sent to quarantine at Kharipati, Bhaktapur; they had not presented any symptoms.
[82] On 17 January, urged by the WHO, Nepal began screening passengers arriving in Tribhuvan International Airport from China, Thailand and Japan, the three countries with multiple confirmed cases.
Health checkpoints began to be established at all major entry points from India, and third country citizens were allowed to cross from select border check-points only.
The government closed land border entry points for third country nationals, and cancelled all mountain climbing expeditions including on Mount Everest, to be enforced from 14 March to 30 April.
[94] The government banned all passengers, including Nepalis, from EU and the UK, West Asia and the Middle East as well as Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, effective from 20 March until 15 April.
[108] The spatial distribution clearly shows that the cases were rapidly spreading from the southern part of the country where most points of entry and exit from India are located.
[109] On 21 March, the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division deployed 200 of its personnel to display placards with awareness messages about the disease by the roadside.
[124] India declared suspension of all passenger movement through Indo-Nepal border, except a few designated checkpoints—Banbasa, Raxaul, Ranigunj and Sunauli[125]—with intensified health inspections, effective from 15 March.
[76] The Health Ministry said it would start using police to guard suspected patients after a Saudi national admitted to Teku Hospital fled from isolation in mid-February.
[114][115][116][117] While giving a speech in Parliament on Tuesday, the prime minister of Nepal K.P Oli quoted that "the COVID-19 coming from India is more lethal than those from China and Italy".
[135][136][137] The domestic airlines were reported to be struggling for survival as ticket prices dropped to half or a third of normal following a sharp decline in demand.
[147] On 18 March, the government shut down all cinema halls, gymnasiums, museums and cultural centres, and banned gatherings of more than 25 people in public spaces including at places of worship.
[150] In March, the Office of the attorney General asked the Police to release people held for minor crimes under bail or parole to reduce crowding.
[152] On 8 March, Qatar imposed a temporary ban on arrivals from Nepal and other countries, affecting almost 40,000 labour migrants with valid work permits who were yet to leave.
[123] In early March, due to a severe shortage of face-masks and protective gear as well as increase in price following a ban on export in China and India, some hospitals were reported to be sewing plain clothes masks as a precaution.
[156] The department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection conducted raids on 161 firms and fined 57 of them, a total of around four million Rupees in the month of Falgun (February–March).
[160] Nepal's pharmaceutical industry has been impacted due to lack of raw materials as a number of essential ingredients were previously imported from Hubei.
[163] Poachers in Nepal took advantage of slack monitoring and sparse public movement during the COVID-19 lockdown and the country saw a surge in killings of wildlife under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.
[165] In late April, six Himalayan musk deer (Moschus leucogaster), which are listed as endangered by IUCN, were found dead inside the Sagarmatha National Park.