Govt writes to more than seven countries seeking medical supplies support

KATHMANDU: Criticized for late response against the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the government has appealed to foreign countries for the support of medical supplies on Wednesday.

According to the Foreign Ministry sources, the government has written to more than seven countries seeking the support of the supply of essential supplies, including vaccines, oxygen, and ventilators.

Spokesperson of Foreign Ministry Sewa Lamsal, the government has written to the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Russia, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

Spokesperson Lamsal informed that the letters have been sent to those countries a week ago. However, she said that the government has not got details from those countries about the help they can offer Nepal.

“Four hundred oxygen cylinders and 10 ventilators arrived in Kathmandu from China on Tuesday and the preparations are underway to bring additional health supplies to Kathmandu by land,” she said.

During the first wave of KOVID, South Korea, India, China, Switzerland, UNICEF, USAID, Qatar Embassy, ​​the Cambodian government, and others provided health care to Nepal. USAID provided 100 units of ventilators, while others provided PPEs, gloves, masks, sanitizers, PCR kits, glasses, and gowns.

India and China provided 1 million and 500,000 doses of vaccine against COVID-19, respectively.