Risks put aside for doctor at heart of Nepal's battle

Editor's note: This news column showcases stories from around the world that bring a touch of positivity to the fight against the deadly coronavirus.

After Doctor Ranjit Sah and his team examined a patient closely at the National Influenza Center in Nepal, he sent him to an isolation ward at an infectious diseases hospital in Kathmandu.

The patient was admitted on Jan 13 and an influenza test had turned out negative.

"The patient's symptoms resembled those of influenza. He had respiratory syndrome and a fever," said Sah, an infectious diseases expert. He is also a consultant microbiologist at the National Public Health Laboratory, or NPHL, in the capital, where the influenza center is located.

There, the patient's condition deteriorated. After another negative test result for influenza, Sah realized that something was not right.

The sample was sent to a laboratory run by the World Health Organization in Hong Kong. On Jan 24, Sah was notified that the patient was infected with the novel coronavirus.

Sah and another colleague, who collected the patient's samples, immediately quarantined themselves. Fortunately, neither of them nor their close contacts tested positive for the new disease, which was to be named COVID-19 by the WHO on Feb 11.

The risk of infection does not daunt Sah as he continues to work on the frontlines in his country's fight against the virus. In March, an article on the first COVID-19 cases in Nepal, which he co-authored in cooperation with domestic and international health experts, was published in the leading British medical journal The Lancet. Others followed in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

After the first infection, for about one-and-a-half months, reagents tests done by Sah's team showed that Nepal was free of a second novel coronavirus case. But, on March 22, the second case was confirmed.

After a slow start, May has proved to be the most deadly month for Nepal, as nearly 1,000 cases were confirmed in the month - with five deaths. Nepal had confirmed just 57 cases by the end of April.

On Thursday, the Nepali government confirmed the fifth death from the virus as the number of cases surpassed the 1,000 mark with a record single-day spike in cases.

In the worst-case scenario, Nepal expects to contend with infections in more than 10,000 people, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. Cases have spread to 51 of Nepal's 77 districts.

The country began a nationwide lockdown on March 24, which has been extended for a fifth time, to June 2. Against this backdrop, working days of up 18 hours has become the new normal for Sah.

"Initially, there were just myself and six staff responsible for COVID-19 testing," said Sah. To cope with the rising workload, two more teams were formed within the NPHL in Kathmandu. As the situation escalates, the number of tests the lab conducts daily has increased from 600 to 1,000, with the maximum capacity expanded from 1,000 to 1,200.

The international community, including China, has been providing assistance to the landlocked Himalayan country. Sah expressed his gratitude for the help China has provided when a batch of reagents were donated to his lab in April.

He said the lab also bought more than 30 tons of medical supplies from China to do more testing, with more purchases in process. Amid supply shortages, China is the only country from which his lab has been able to buy medical supplies.

Xinhua contributed to the story.