ABSTRACT
In the chapter on Nepal, Uddhab Pyakurel (Kathmandu University) and Supriya Gurung (Western Sydney University) chronicle the government’s delayed response to the surge of COVID-19 cases and its use of measures such as travel restrictions, snap lockdowns and a national vaccine rollout to then attempt to control the virus. It addresses how thousands of Nepali and Indian migrant workers, many of whom were carrying the COVID virus, moved through the porous border between India and Nepal after the normally open border was declared closed. The chapter also analyses some unusual government activities that occurred during the pandemic, some of which raised questions of corruption and notes how on several occasions the Nepali state failed to capitalise on measures that would have aided in its fight against the spread of COVID-19.
