Challenges in Preventing the Spread of COVID-19
Observations in Nepal and Japan(Tentative, as of 30 April)
1. Introduction
In addition to restricting entries at legal borders, governments generally recommend, and to great extent
enforce, four common actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19: staying home, social distancing, wearingmask, and washing hands. Table 1 shows an observation (based on news reports and actual experiences)
between Nepal and Japan.
Table 1 Policy Difference in COVID-19 Preventive Actions between Nepal and Japan
Preventive
Nepal
Japan
ActionStaying Home-

Mandatory
Imposition of lockdowns since March 24,2020 (military, police, and related
enforcement agencies from all levels ofgovernance are engaged)--

Non-Mandatory
No imposition of lockdowns(drawingonindividual
responsibility and cooperation)
Emergency declared in mostaffected seven prefectures sinceApril 7, 2020.
Avoidance of 3Cs: crowds, closed
spaces, closed contacts; Also
cancelation of group events (e.g.,
marathons)
Encouraged but not legislated
National Government announced
giving out masks

Social/Physical
Distancing-

Cancelation of group events (e.g., religious
worship, marriage ceremonies, andfestivals)-

Wearing Mask-

Legislated at all three tiers of governments(punishment for violation of order)-

Washing Hands-

Encouraged (on your own)-

Encouraged(withestablishments’ support)

Essential Services
and mobility-

The range of normal essential services arelimited (e.g. general banking, general
health access, groceries have become very
limited)Public transportation services are
suspended.
No international connectivity and services
except rescue.
Cabinet of Prime-minister and ministers at
the apex
Cabinet formed a special Covid-19
Prevention and Control High Level
Coordination Committee headed by
Deputy Prime-minister (DPM)
Establishment of separate Covid-19 Crisis
Management Centre under the high levelcommittee chaired by DPM
The Centers are replicated to province anddistrict level.
Incident Command Coordinator is at
Health Emergency Operation Centre-

Healthcare facilities, groceries, foodfacilities are running normal.
Public transportation is normal withsome guidelines.
The nationals and permanent
residents can enter Japan and theforeigners can go out. The services
are running regularly.
Cabinet Office, the Prime minister,and the ministers are working at thenational level.
The governors in all prefectures
have taken necessary decision attheir levels.
The municipalities and local levelinstitutions are working in front.
Disaster management and Healthcenters are active at all levels.
Prime Minister received the powerfrom parliament to declare and urge
governors to impose emergency

Incident Command
System

-

-

-

-

wide

-

Immediate Reliefs-(HEOC) under the Ministry of Health andPopulation at the federal level.
Infectious Disease Act, 1964 is applied fornecessary actions.
The Councils and committees under theDisaster Risk Reduction and ManagementAct-2017 are working at all levels as
supplementary in a coordinative way.
Food and stuffs is provided for the neediest
people.
Transportation facilities and somemedicine to the essentials.
Reliefs are distributed by local levels only.
Many volunteers are helping them.

suspending some facilities tocontrol the spread of the diseases.

-The
governmentofJapan
announces monitory reliefs of100000 yen per head to the needy
people and subsidies to small
industries.

Policies and actions taken by governments differ for many reasons, including: 1) preparedness of thehealth systems, 2) demographics, e.g., percentage of elderly, poor and illiterate, 3) population density, 4)
testing capacity, and 5) cultural, social, and political dynamics.

2. ‘Home/Community Quarantine’ in Nepal
Relief goods from the local government are a common
sight of daily life during the quarantine. Families,
especially those living ‘below poverty line’ , ‘daily
wage earners’ and some students receive relief goods toalleviate hunger. Goods usually include 5-50 kilos of
rice, 1-5 kilos cereals, a salt packet, oil, soaps, sugar,
vegetables and some packs of instant noodles perfamily (Photo 1). The amount and items of relief varyfrom one local level to another. The volunteer
contributors are also contributing in coordination of thelocal levels. Some local levels and volunteer
organizations are helping the transportation ofGoods (Inquirer 2020)
road-left people to send them home and hospitals Photo 1. Relief
Photo 1. Relief distribution in Itahari [Pic: Suresh]by providing money or vehicles. In Itahari Submetropolitan City (a city in Province 1, eastern Nepal), where my relatives live, daily wage earners include:‘tricycle drivers’, ‘ co-drivers’, ‘sidewalk vendors’, ‘hairdressers’, 'local factory workers', 'street labors','mason-helpers', and ‘street cleaners’. Other daily wage earners earn by selling freshly harvested fruits andvegetables or fish. They have so much anxiety during quarantine, particularly how long relief goods cansustain. 'In a common quarantine, there are 72 people including some foreigners are fully supported by themunicipality' deputy mayor Laxmi Gautam Said on 25 April 2020. Essentially, this situation is happening
not just in Itahari but also in many parts of Nepal.
When did it start?
When first case was reported on December 30, 2019 in China, World Health Organization (WHO) issued
some recommendations to the world after some days. Then the Government of Nepal took initial step
forming a separate special Covid-19 Prevention and Control High Level Coordination Committee headed
by Deputy Prime-minister (DPM). The first meeting of this high-level committee held on March 1, 2020.
Then different task forces and action teams formed at different places at different levels: federal, provincial,
district and local. On 13 January (with one quarantined returnee from Wuhan China, reported confirmed

COVID-19 cases)1, the Government of the Nepal started enhancing examination and response capacity firstinside the capital city Kathmandu.2 In March 10, the high-level committee decided to establish healthquarantine desks at the borders, avoid the gatherings, maintain distance and urged to establish quarantine
centers to the authorities.3 This committee, further in 21 March, recommended and urged the authorities for
Nepal-lockdown from 24 March 2020.4 On 27 April, cabinet decided to extend the lockdown until seventh
may accumulating 45 days in total. The only international airport will remain closed up to 15th may
additionally.
It restricts people’s movement
Mass gathering is prohibited (e.g., temple fellowship, ritual ceremonies and parties, movies, and sports
events), public transportation is stopped, and schools at all levels are closed. Front-liners (i.e., doctors,
nurses, army, police, and relevant personnel) are exempted. Private companies are ordered to implement“telework” arrangements. Only one person in the household is allowed to go outside to buy basic needs(e.g., food and medicine). In restricting people’s movement, police checkpoints are established andviolators are taken in control (Photo 2). People should apply for ‘travel pass’ (Photo 3) for essential
movements and they receive e-pass.

Photo 2 Police Arrests Violators (Nepali Times)

Photo 3 Travel Pass (Home Ministry 2020)

It imposes closure of establishments
Hotels, casinos, cockpits, and related businesses are not allowed to operate. Exempted establishments arefinancial institutions such as banks, money transfer services, groceries for limited hours. Some vital
construction projects (e.g. Malachi water supply) are also exempted. Violators and antisocial activists will
be penalized implying the legal procedures (See high-level committee minutes dated 21 March 2020).5
It restricts travel
Issuance of visas and entry of foreigners into the Nepal are already suspended. Travel outside the country
is also restricted with exemptions to those who travel with medical supplies related to COVID-19. Cargo
forwarders, farmers, and other food producers are exempted. Nepali people who wanted to enter Nepal
from India are also not allowed entry; hundreds of them are quarantined at Indian side and vice-versa.

2.1. Entire Nepal under ‘Uncertainty of Calamity’On the second day of the lockdown, President Bidhya Devi Bhanadari urged all stakeholders to obey andcooperate to the government to fight unified against the Calamity for the coming days. 6 Earlier, the1

Correspondence, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339163164_The_first_2019_novel_coronavirus_case_in_Nepal
https://www.onlinekhabar.com/2020/01/831087
3
Cabinet office Notice, https://www.opmcm.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ Corona-Meeting-2076-11-22.pdf
4Cabinet office Notice, https://www.opmcm.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Corona-Meeting-2076-12-08.pdf
5Cabinet Notice, 2020, https://www.opmcm.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Corona-Meeting-2076-12-08.pdf
6News President Office, https://www.presidentofnepal.gov.np/?p=4035
2

government requested all local governments to use their respective emergency funds, usually by providing
relief goods to the needy peoples in the territories. Some local governments invest on providing freeemergency transportation and free medicine to elderly people prescribed (e.g. Thulung Dhudhkoshi Rural
Municipality, Solukhumbu). 7 Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the capital, did some disinfection-related
activities.8 Note that, the Government also issued a memorandum that ordered the freezing of price of basic
goods, emergency medicines, and medical supplies. The authorities are continuously taking legal actions if
found fault in monitoring. Still the regulatory mechanism has not seen strong enough.9 On April 7, Prime
Minister KP Sharma Oli addressed the nation speaking about the progress and challenges against Covid19. He also motivated the related fighters and repeated the request to obey lockdowns for better days verysoon.

2.2 Local levels are working wellLocal level bodies are the new entities after the 2017 election in Nepal under federal system. They haveestablished strong bond to people during the fight against Covid-19. Local governments are jolted
tempestuously into action in reaching out support to vulnerable individuals – the elderly, children, wage
earners and frontline health workers disproportionately impacted due to economic consequences of the
lockdown.10 On March 29, the Cabinet announced a slew of decisions, measures and relief packages. Since
then, they are doing their best on this regard. Local levels are only the designated window of relief tovulnerable. Establishing new quarantines, adding health facilities and taking care of their citizens out of thehomes are some examples of good works by local levels. One issue, seen from media, is the packages by
the local levels are not covering the tenants and poor unorganized sector people leaving them in starvation.
These people are finding their footway to their own villages very far very hard.

2.3 Challenges
Although many activities are implemented to restrict people’s movement, there is no standardized
quarantine and isolation system in many hospitals, lack of necessary Personal Protective Equipment-PPEs
and not having enough testing kits for COVID-19 are the main challenges Nepal. It would be very difficult
for Nepal to fight the coronavirus alone due to its limited resources and fragile healthcare system.11 Limited
health care personnel are available in country and they are transferring their knowledge to the provincial
levels by providing training and establishing new labs. Additionally, these challenges are also noted:The graph of quarantined people is recently increasing. Which indicates the mobility of people is high.
Media say that almost half of the infected people are from India that shares open border to Nepal. It isa challenge to control people's mobility to break the chain of infection.
29% of Nepal's GDP is from foreign employment. The high number of vulnerable Nepali abroad areasking rescue to the home. Government seems in dilemma on this matter. It will have high adverse
impact in Nepal.
There are anecdotal reports of stigma that identification of poor needy people and providing them
supports for their daily needs have not gone rational. This blanket approach is another challenge toprovide continue support and engaging in productive sectors in future.

Actually, the government was in uncertainty about the period of the lockdown. So that government took'watch and decide' strategy for continuing lockdown. Initially it was set for the period 24 to 31 March andextended to April 7. Further, they extended it to 15 April and again to April 27 and now it reached until
May 7, 2020 on its 4th extension. However, with less indication of flattening the curve, the Government

7News, https://radiosolu.org/news/830
Disinfection Activities, http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/26/c_138917556_11.htm
9
Sapkota R, Nepal's Readiness Against Covid-19, https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/112284
10
Rijal M, Fighting Covid-19 at the Local Levels, https://risingnepaldaily.com/opinion/fighting-covid-19-at-the-local-levels
11
Nepal Cannot Fight Coronavirus Alone, https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/nepal-cannot-fight-coronavirus-alone/8

accepted the recommendation from the Task Groups under the Covid-19 Prevention and Control High-level
Coordination Committee to extend the lockdown considering situation developed.12

3. Drawing on ‘Individual Responsibility’ in Japan
Unlike Nepal, where much of Government control is imposed on the people, Japan appears lenient. Under
existing Japanese law, lockdowns cannot be enforced. So, it amended the Special Measures Act for
Pandemic Influenza and New Infectious Diseases Preparedness and Response so that the Government ofJapan (GoJ) can declare health emergency that would restrict people’s freedom by requesting and ‘ordering’
them stay home to prevent the spread of novel corona virus. However, there is no penalty if people refused.
As there will be closures to many stores, restaurants, amusement facilities, and factories in order to prevent
people from going out their homes unnecessarily, the government will implement a financial aid package
for those businesses, which includes providing 2 million yen to small and medium-sized corporations aswell as those relatively larger corporations to sustain their businesses. It will also provide 1 million yen to
individual owners.13
On these bases, Prime Minister Abe, on 7th April 2020, declared a month-long State of Emergency forTokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo, and Fukuoka prefectures (until 6 th May). 14 Thisdeclaration allows the governors to introduce restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Note thatthe government’s countermeasures on COVID-19 is evolving, and on 16 April 2020, the Prime Ministerannounced to provide a cash handout of 100,000-yen (approximately US$930) to every resident in Japan
as economic measure to counter the effects of the new coronavirus outbreak.15

3.1 Covering 7 Prefectures Only16
Out of 47 prefectures, only 7 are covered in the State of Emergency (please note that the government
policy is evolving. On 16 April 2020, the State of Emergency has been expanded to entire Japan). In
essence, the state of emergency is more of an authority of the governors to request and order. Amongthese are asking residents to refrain from non-essential movements and requesting schools to close andplace limits on the use of nursery schools, elderly daycare centers, and other welfare facilities. The
governors have no legal authority to order private companies to close. So, unlike Nepal, there are noexcessive use of military and police in Japan. In some sense, Japan’s State of Emergency contrasts thatof Nepal.
In addition, residents can still go outside their houses without a pass. Some people can still walk under
the cherry blossoms17 and can still do groceries in orderly manner at supermarkets. 18 Private companies
are only encouraged to arranging telework, but are not mandated to close. And public transportation still
operates. Railway and bus companies essentially maintain normal schedules. Additionally, there are no
restrictions on taxi drivers.

12

Cabinet Press Notes and Notices, https://www.opmcm.gov.np/
Amendment to Special Measures Act (Article 32), https://japan.kantei.go.jp/98_abe/statement/202004/_00001.html
14
NHK World, https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200407_43/
15
Y100,000 cash handout, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/japan-offers-covid-19-stimulus-payment-to-all-residents-12653052
16
Expansion of State of Emergency to entire Japan, https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/04/da404143318b-urgent-japan-looks-to-expandareas-covered-by-virus-emergency-declaration.html
17
Cherry blossoms, https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/03/14fb6e803d74-feature-japan-struggling-to-get-a-grip-on-social-distancing.html
18
Special time for elderly, https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200408/p2a/00m/0na/015000c
13

Photo 4 People under Cherry Blossoms (Kyodo News 2020)

Photo 5 Special time for elderly in Kobe (Mainichi 2020)

3.2 Challenges
Perhaps, peoples’ anxiety in Japan is whether the democratic approach to flattening the curve will beeffective. Also, whether the limited coverage of the State of Emergency is enough since other prefectures
also have COVID-19 cases (https://covid19japan.com/). In fact, some prefectures (e.g. Kyoto and Aichi),which are not covered in the State of Emergency, are implementing their own versions of state of
emergency.19 Another challenge is on ‘perception’. There is anecdotal observation that most Japanesestill prefer to go to work physically at office, as they perceive working at home is less productive.
Additionally, the support of higher management is essential. If the higher management supports telework,
then employees will be inclined to work at home. Furthermore, ‘culture’ is also a factor. There are reportsthat the traditional ‘seal system’ hampers telework. 20

4. Insights
Both Nepal and Japan have systems in place to handle disasters, and these systems (activated throughthe Declaration of Lockdown and State of Emergency) were used in efforts to prevent the spread of
COVID-19. The Government of Nepal established the Covid-19 Prevention and Control High-level
Coordination Committee, a temporary but powerful structure, wherein the chair now leads the Task
Forces on COVID-19. 21 The National Disaster Risk Reduction Authority and all the ministries
concerning health, security, industry, finance and others are working in coordination to the high-levelcommittee. The local government levels (chaired by mayors and chairperson) are subsequently utilized,
particularly in the distributions of relief goods. In Japan, it’s usually the local governments (especiallythe governors) who are leading and directing the efforts of the addressing the crisis. Japan is utilizing its
permanent structure to fight this pandemic. So, the procedures applied in this pandemic are slightly
different in Nepal and Japan.
Japan’s approach is more democratic. Japan maintains the separation of powers between the national
government and prefectural governments amidst corona virus. Most importantly, Japan did not impose
mandatory restrictions. Instead, the Government calls on people to support and recognize their ‘individual
responsibility’. The Government of Japan can afford this kind of decision since the country has stronger
health system, better welfare support, and cooperative citizens.

19

NHK World, https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/1025/
Japan Times, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/04/13/business/corporate-business/traditional-japanese-seal-system-hamperstelework/#.XpT8xlMzb-Y
21
Prime Minister Direction to strictly implement lockdown, https://kathmandupost.com/national/2020/04/18/prime-minister-oli-directs-highlevel-covid-19-committee-to-strictly-implement-lockdown
20