Letter to the Editor

COVID-19 quarantine camps in Nepal – a dire and despondent state

AUTHORS

name here
Sagar Pokhrel
1 Medical Officer

name here
Yub Raj Sedhai
2 Assistant Professor

name here
Alok Atreya
3 MD, Assistant Professor *

CORRESPONDENCE

*A/Prof Alok Atreya

AFFILIATIONS

1 Balkot Primary Health Care Center, Arghakhanchi, Balkot, Nepal

2 Department of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

3 Department of Forensic Medicine, Lumbini Medical College Teaching Hospital, Palpa, Nepal

PUBLISHED

29 July 2020 Volume 20 Issue 3

HISTORY

RECEIVED: 26 June 2020

ACCEPTED: 7 July 2020

CITATION

Pokhrel S, Sedhai YR, Atreya A.  COVID-19 quarantine camps in Nepal – a dire and despondent state . Rural and Remote Health 2020; 20: 6240. https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH6240

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONSgo to url

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

go to urlCited by

Field report and Yub Raj Sedhai

download icon download PDF


full article:

Dear Editor,

Although their meanings are different, the terms quarantine and isolation are used interchangeably. Quarantine is a measure to separate and restrict movement of people who are potentially exposed to an infectious agent to ascertain if they become sick. Isolation is separation of infected people from uninfected ones. The motive behind quarantine and isolation is the same: to limit the spread of a contagious agent1. The Government of Nepal has made temporary quarantine shelters for people likely to have been exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

The rectangular, landlocked country of Nepal shares it borders with China in the north and India in the east, west and south. Many Nepalese from rural parts of the country work in India as migrant workers. After lockdown was imposed in India and subsequently in Nepal on 24 March 2020 due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), there was a mass exodus of Nepalese migrant workers from India to Nepal2. Considering the surge in India, the Government of Nepal adopted quarantine measures in Nepal. The schools, temples and public spaces in the bordering areas were converted into makeshift quarantine camps. Given the lack of planning, logistics and infrastructure, quarantine camps are in a dire and despondent state.

Quarantine camps are overpopulated to an extent that prevents safe distancing. Food, shelter, hygiene and sanitation are in a deplorable state. Trampoline sheets are used as makeshift beds. There are a limited number of latrines, with poor sewage management. This raises the possibility of other vector-borne zoonosis epidemics (such as malaria, dengue and visceral leishmaniasis), especially given the location of the camps in Nepal’s southern belt, which are affected yearly by the monsoon season3. Furthermore, there is an utter lack of basic preventive measures such as mosquito nets. Each person is reimbursed a food allowance of 178 Nepalese rupees (US$1.50) per day, which is far below the local market threshold.

Social stigma surrounding COVID-19 is rising rapidly. Residents near the quarantine camps have raised concerns and protested against these establishments4. Individuals testing positive in the camp are stigmatized and bullied. Social discrimination and lack of mental health services have increased the incidence of conversion disorder, panic attacks and depression. Stigmatization is not limited to people who are COVID-19 positive – healthcare workers are often assaulted and abused5.

Recent news articles have reported suicide of COVID-19 positive patients and an alleged gang rape of a female in a quarantine camp in Nepal6-8. These dark and desperate acts are further examples of the state of physical mental and social wellbeing in Nepal’s quarantine camps amidst a global crisis.

Dr Sagar Pokhrel, Balkot Primary Health Care Center, Arghakhanchi, Balkot, Nepal
Dr Yub Raj Sedhai, Department of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
Dr Alok Atreya, Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Lumbini Medical College Teaching Hospital, Palpa, Nepal
 

references:

1 Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N, et al. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet 2020; 395(10227): 912-920. DOI link, PMid:32112714
2 Shrestha R, Nepal S, Atreya A. Need for prioritizing health: an old war-cry reiterated by COVID-19. Journal of Lumbini Medical College 2020; 8(1). Available: web link (Accessed 23 June 2020).
3 Pandey BD, Nabeshima T, Pandey K, Rajendra SP, Shah Y, Adhikari BR, et al. First isolation of dengue virus from the 2010 epidemic in Nepal. Tropical Medicine and Health 2013; 2012-2017. DOI link, PMid:24155651
4 Nepal Monitor. Locals protest against setting up of isolation ward in settlement. 2020. Available: web link (Accessed 13 July 2020).
5 McKay D, Heisler M, Mishori R, Catton H, Kloiber O. Attacks against health-care personnel must stop, especially as the world fights COVID-19. Lancet 2020; 395: 1743-1745. DOI link
6 Dhakal K. Covid-19 detected in Arghakhanchi man who died by suicide in quarantine. Available: web link (Accessed 17 June 2020).
7 Himalayan Times. Yet another suicide case tests positive for coronavirus. Available: web link (Accessed 18 June 2020).
8 Chhatyal DB. Woman in quarantine in Kailali gang raped. Available: web link (Accessed 15 June 2020).

You might also be interested in:

2011 - The rural hospital doctors workforce in New Zealand

2011 - A closer look at Ontario's northern and southern rural physician demographics

2004 - Delivery of the clinical components of the Newcastle University medical course in a multidisciplinary academic unit in Tamworth