LettersWhy Hong Kong must help Nepal fight Covid-19

Name: ‘India is a horrifying preview,’ says Red Cross as Nepal’s Covid-19 cases rise
Uploaded: 2021-05-17T22:30:09.000Z
Duration: 3 min 12 s
Description: ‘India is a horrifying preview,’ says Red Cross as Nepal’s Covid-19 cases rise

The pandemic has hit the country in a catastrophic way, directly affecting the more than 20,000 Nepalese in Hong Kong

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A Covid-19 patient breathes with the help of medical oxygen as she arrives at a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, on May 13. Photo: AFP

Letters

Published: 6:30am, 18 May 2021Updated: 6:30am, 18 May 2021

It is time for Hong Kong to aid the people of Nepal. The pandemic has hit that small country in a catastrophic way. The variant of the virus first detected in India has crossed the border and is causing a large number of deaths.

Nepal lacks access to vaccines and has a very undeveloped medical service. The country has reportedly run out of oxygen and the cylinders in which to store it. Their hospitals are overrun, and people who cannot be admitted are dying outside them.

This situation directly affects the more than 20,000-strong Nepalese population here in Hong Kong. They all have family back in Nepal and are affected in some way. All travel to Nepal has had to be stopped.

When travel opens up again with Nepal – as it must, for the Nepalese here will need to travel there and back at some point – Hong Kong will open itself up to a virus that in Nepal is unchecked. Nepalese staff fill many positions here in hospitality, security, cleaning, driving and construction, sectors in which they are inevitably in contact each day with large numbers of the Hong Kong public. The virus will spread.

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‘India is a horrifying preview,’ says Red Cross as Nepal’s Covid-19 cases rise

This is not just a humanitarian issue affecting a country to which many of Hongkongers are tied. It is one of self-interest.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The pandemic has hit the country in a catastrophic way, directly affecting the more than 20,000 Nepalese in Hong Kong

The pandemic has hit the country in a catastrophic way, directly affecting the more than 20,000 Nepalese in Hong Kong