Life & Health

The Ministry of Health and Population has urged people to take an extra dose of the vaccine against coronavirus infection in light of the increasing number of cases in foreign countries. 

The country, however, reported no new coronavirus cases on December 24. All 761 samples – 268 in RT-PCR and 493 in antigen - tested negative for the virus. This is the first time that no new coronavirus cases have been detected since the first case was detected in January 2020. There are only 12 active cases of the infection across the country. 

The ministry, however, has said that the risk of coronavirus infection remains. 

Health Ministry spokesperson Dr Sanjay Kumar Thakur said: “The new variant BF.7 has been increasing in neighbouring countries. Initial reports suggest this variant is highly contagious and infects a larger number of people in a short period. Therefore, an additional dose of the vaccine is necessary.”

He advises taking an extra dose of vaccine as a precaution.“We request all those who have missed the additional shots of a vaccine against coronavirus to take the dose at the earliest.” 

With reports of a fresh infection surge in the neighbouring countries, health experts have urged the public to take an additional dose to be on the safer side.

Dr Anup Bastola, an expert on tropical and infectious diseases, said: “Covid-19 vaccines provide protection against severity and death from the infection. But the immunity wanes along with time. This is why the additional doses of the vaccines are necessary.” 

Open border to India and migration of people from one place to the other poses a threat to Nepal. Dr Thakur said: “Therefore, everyone needs to remain alert and prevent the spread of infection.” 

According to the ministry, only 76.5 per cent of the population has taken both doses of the vaccine. Meanwhile, about 27 per cent of the Nepali population has taken an additional shot of the immunisation till December 24. 

The ministry has said that recording of fever of the travellers entering Nepal, antigen tests and gene sequencing of the suspected have been continued across the country. 

The ministry added that all federal, provincial and local mechanisms had to be deployed to arrest the virus spread. 

With the New Year only days away, the health authorities have urged people to mandatorily wear masks, maintain physical distance, wash hands, and use hand sanitiser.

In light of the increasing trajectory of Covid cases in some countries, India has revised its guidelines for international arrivals. 

The new guidelines require passengers to wear masks and maintain physical distance during travel. Any passenger having symptoms of Covid during the journey shall be isolated and segregated from other passengers and shifted to an isolation facility for treatment. 

It has also said that two per cent of the total passengers on the flight shall undergo random post-arrival testing at the airport on arrival. If the travellers' samples are tested positive, their samples should be further sent for genomic testing.