N-CoronaVirus in Nepal - Latest Updates
Status Update 30th April 2021 Travel to Nepal Interestingly enough, Nepal is still open to travel. A PCR negative report taken before 72 hours of boarding or a document showing complete vaccination against COVID is mandatory. Newly arrived travellers need to do a PCR test immediately upon arr
Status Update 30th April 2021
So what’s new? Honestly, everything is new these days. The spring is almost done and the summer is about to come. Just a couple months ago, we thought that the COVID was almost gone from Nepal but just like the season, the COVID is kind of unpredictable, it’s spiked a lot and has been doubling everyday. The scene has got quite scary and Nepal is on Lockdown 2.0. Our situation of course is not as heart-wrenching as in our neighbouring country India, but the current movement does not bore well for Nepal in the next few months!
Namaste! We hope you’re all doing good and well.It’s been a while since we’ve sent you a status update from Nepal.Things were going good for a while in Nepal when cases started dropping but after the rise in COVID cases in India, Nepal seems to be facing the same problem.
Travel to Nepal
Interestingly enough, Nepal is still open to travel. A PCR negative report taken before 72 hours of boarding or a document showing complete vaccination against COVID is mandatory. Newly arrived travellers need to do a PCR test immediately upon arrival by coordinating with their respective agencies and must quarantine themselves until they receive their negative PCR report. The government has been providing on-arrival visas for tourists and there is no halt on international aviation.
No Controlling the Pandemic
So after continuous COVID cases with numbers more than 4000 in two days and 5657 today, the situation seems to be getting worse. The lockdown was made effective by the government from April 26 2021 and will remain until May 14 2021. Currently, the announced restrictions limit the hours for grocery shops (0600-1000 hours and 1700-1900 hours), banks, pharmacies, and other essential services (1000-1700) and prohibit most other public and commercial gathering places. Personal vehicles and public transportation are also prohibited and only emergency vehicles will be permitted to travel.
About Us
Socialtours have migrated from Thamel to Lalitpur around the famous Banglamukhi temple into a small Bahal (square). Over a year of waiting has also made us realise that tourism is not coming back in a hurry. We are hence making the operations minimal, and doggedly preparing to wait it out. In the meantime, we are honing the company’s skills at dealing with the new normal in tourism. We have updated all our travel protocols to fall in line with government regulations and even helped the authorities and the industry develop protocols and best practice guidelines.
We are also back to supporting the Nepal Tourism Board Crisis Cell, as the country faces this crisis, and paralleling also helping citizen efforts at controlling the pandemic via Alliances, and an initiative we started that aimed to bring back Nepalese safely back to Nepal called NyaanoSwaagat
In Other News…
The Chaotic Kumbh Mela
Former King Gyanendra Shah and the former Queen Komal Shah were tested positive for COVID following their return from their trip to India where they had participated in religious rituals at Haridwar,during Kumbh Mela. The former queen was admitted to Norvic Hospital who has been moved to ICU owing to breathing complications.
Postponement of Exams
All the ongoing and the scheduled examinations were stalled by the government along with Tribhuwan University (TU). However Pokhara University (PU) has announced that it has planned to conduct the postponed scheduled examinations through alternative methods.
LINKS | Good to Read
Guidelines for visitors to the Himalayas
COVID SAFE MOUNTAIN TOURISM - Best Practices for travelling in Nepal
Latest Status Update on Entry Procedures to Nepal
Infographic developed by a team led by socialtours
We love connecting and hearing from you. Join the socialtours community via the link below.
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The socialtours | community group of Facebook
Status Update 18th February 2021
So what’s new? Spring is definitely approaching in Nepal, the COVID cases have dropped drastically and the entry procedures to the country are still complicated. If you are interested in Nepal in any way, all this is relevant!
Namaste! We hope you’re all healthy and doing well. Been a while since we last updated you all about the status of tourism in Nepal. With the beginning of 2021, things seem to be slowly going back to normal. We do all hope for a better and crisis-free year ahead.
TRAVEL TO NEPAL
If you are thinking of travelling to Nepal, the Nepali missions abroad have now been authorised to issue visas at their discretion. The only hindrance now is a PCR negative test that needs to be negative 72 hours prior to boarding, and a mandatory quarantine in Kathmandu - seven days for regular travellers and 10 days for returnees and travellers from the COVID variant existing countries - currently UK and South Africa. We have compiled a handy infographic for you to read here.
CONTROLLING THE PANDEMIC
Testing is still low in Nepal and we have just crossed 2 million tests with a paltry 3000 tests being done every day. According to official data (slightly suspect), we only have 1600 odd active cases, and we have a 98.7% recovery of the overall close to 300,000 cases.
There has been a sharp drop in the number of cases since last month so eventually it seems like the pandemic is coming into control, for the time being. Not sure if the drop is because the number of cases are indeed declining or because fewer tests are being made, and also the public has become stoic to the virus.
ABOUT US
Socialtours is also going through change. Over a year of waiting has also made us realise that tourism is not coming back in a hurry. We are hence making the operations minimal, and doggedly preparing to wait it out. In the meantime, we are honing the company’s skills at dealing with the new normal in tourism. We have updated all our travel protocols to fall in line with government regulations and even helped the authorities and the industry develop protocols and best practice guidelines. We are also relooking at all our experiences and modifying and cleaning them out. Giving them a spring cleaning if you will!
IN OTHER NEWS ...
Fake Climb Claims
Two more cases of Indian climbers who wrangled out expedition certificates using photoshopped proof, without actually reaching the top of Mt Everest in 2016 have come to light. They had submitted false details to the Department of Tourism for which their certificates have been revoked. Aiming to reduce such activities, the government is even thinking of installing GPS tracking devices on the mountaineers! Ha!
Weak Winter
Nepal hasn’t had significant snowfall in the last five years and this year was no different. The temperature of Nepal is rising at a rate of 0.6 degrees Celsius per decade. Due to rising temperatures in higher regions, insects are shifting from the lower belt, so new pests are seen in higher regions these days. Prepare for mosquitoes in Mustang!
Political upheaval
Mass demonstrations from the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) have become quite frequent these days. The two major leaders Prachanda and the prime minister KP Oli have been sabre-rattling by conducting mass demonstrations in the public that is troubling the general public on a daily basis. Most of the demonstrators have no idea why they’re even participating. People from Kathmandu and Terai are trucked in with the promises of free meals and money with a free visit to the capital as well. Good for the people who get a chance to come, but for the locals here, hell! And a potential for pandemic spread. Stay safe. Dream on. If you have any queries, do not hesitate to ask us. One quick email or a connect via our social media channels is all that's required!
LINKS | Good to Read
Guidelines for visitors to the Himalayas
COVID SAFE MOUNTAIN TOURISM - Best Practices for travelling in Nepal
Latest Status Update on Entry Procedures to Nepal
Infographic developed by a team led by socialtours
Status Update 5th January 2021
TRAVEL TO NEPAL
Airlinks with India have been restored which is a vital lifeline for Nepal’s connectivity to the outside world. Visas on arrival have not been implemented to pre COVID days but you can still avail one through your travel agent. The safest way is to have a visa issued at the Nepali Embassy or Consulate in your home country. A PCR report not older than 72 hours is a must and on arrival to the country a quarantine of 7 days is enforced. COVID insurance of a minimum of $5000 is also a precondition. These are early days and much confusion exists but with practice things are being ironed out.
CONTROLLING THE PANDEMIC
In a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus in the community, the government is to carry out antigen tests of about 300,000 people for free. The government is opting for the antigen tests as it is less expensive and faster than the standard PCR, although the antigen tests are said to be less accurate. There has been a sharp drop in the number of new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, but it is not known if this has happened because the number of new infections is indeed declining or because fewer tests than are necessary are carried out.
Mass testing is the only way to control the spread of the virus, especially now that the new, deadlier strain of the coronavirus has been detected in Nepal also. Nepal has conducted far less tests than those carried out by countries with a similar population or even less, such as Malaysia or Australia. Nepal has carried out a little over 1.9 million tests compared to almost 10 million tests in Australia with a population of 25 million. There is, thus, little to cheer about if the declining infection numbers are masking the real status of the disease in the country. The government is particularly worried that the number of deaths due to the virus has been increasing in recent weeks because it has not been able to identify those infected on time. The government is advised to step up its contact tracing, which was discontinued in the past, so that no one is missed.
ABOUT THE TEAM
Nothing much has changed. Here, at Socialtours we’ve been working from home and will continue doing so till the tourism sector starts showing some form of normalcy. We have updated all our travel protocols to fall in line with government regulations and some members of our team have been active in going to mountain communities in the trekking routes to aware and train people on ‘COVID safe Mountain Tourism.’ We are preparing to conduct our popular treks and tours but in a thoroughly new and safe environment. The groundwork is being laid one brick at a time.
IN OTHER NEWS
The air pollution reached hazardous levels on Monday. The Air Quality Index (AQI) on Monday steadily climbed towards the hazardous level with it peaking at 606 AQI at 11:00 pm last night. The Phora Durbar AQM recorded the air quality in Kathmandu valley hovering above 500 from 9:00 pm yesterday to 5:00 am today morning.The hazardous condition of air in Kathmandu valley is likely to increase the risk among various groups amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Kathmandu remains the only district in the country that has over 500 active cases.
Cinemas have started a cautious reopening since Christmas Day in Nepal which led to a huge queue in one of the halls, even though they were limiting occupancy.
Schools in the rural areas have opened with some protocols, and in the urban areas with higher population density, there is a huge pressure to open, and it has yet to happen.
Useful Links:
Guidelines for visitors to the Himalayas:
Article on our website: http://socialtours.com/be-inspired/good-to-know/guidelines-for-visitors-to-the-himalaya
Video on our Youtube -
COVID SAFE MOUNTAIN TOURISM - Best Practices for travelling in Nepal
http://socialtours.com/be-inspired/good-to-know/covid-safe-mountain-tourism
Latest Status Update on travel to Nepal
Infographic developed by a team led by socialtours
We love connecting and hearing from you. Join the socialtours community via the links below.
Facebook page
The socialtours | community group of Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialtoursnepal
Instagram handle - https://www.instagram.com/socialtours/
LinkedIn company page - https://www.linkedin.com/company/socialtours.com-travels
Twitter Handle - https://twitter.com/socialtours?lang=en
YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCemWmmHikk3ZwknyD3ZDKHA
Status Update 24 December 2020
Airlinks with India have been restored which is a vital lifeline for Nepal’s connectivity to the outside world. Visas on arrival have not been implemented to pre COVID days but you can still avail one through your travel agent. The safest way is to have one issued at the Nepali Embassy OR Consulate in your home country. A PCR report not older than 72 hours is a must and on arrival to the country a quarantine of 7 days is enforced. COVID insurance of a minimum of $5000 is also a precondition. These are early days and much confusion exists but with practice things are being ironed out.
With 250,000 cases, a recovery rate of 96% and a mortality of close to 0.68% Nepal is weathering the storm called COVID-19 since the first case was detected in early February 2020.
While initially opening the country only for trekking and mountaineering in September, the government in a major policy shift has opened the country as a whole for all activities. We at socialtours have been working from home for the past several weeks and will continue to do so till the tourism sector begins to resemble some sense of normalcy. We have updated all our travel protocols to fall in line with government regulations and some members of our team have been active in going to mountain communities in the trekking routes to aware and train people on ‘COVID safe Mountain Tourism.’ We are preparing to conduct our popular treks and tours but in a thoroughly new and safe environment. The groundwork is being laid one brick at a time.
Useful Links:
Guidelines for visitors to the Himalayas:
Article on our website: http://socialtours.com/be-inspired/good-to-know/guidelines-for-visitors-to-the-himalaya
Video on our Youtube -
COVID SAFE MOUNTAIN TOURISM - Best Practices for travelling in Nepal
http://socialtours.com/be-inspired/good-to-know/covid-safe-mountain-tourism
Latest Status Update on travel to Nepal
Infographic developed by a team led by socialtours
Regardless, the Nepalis are the way we are, that has not changed at all - still taking life as it gives - with smiles and laughter through all the hardship. No wonder we get a very resilient image!
While all this is going on, our message to you - keep the dream alive - Nepal is still the same and waiting patiently to welcome you again.
Some more interesting holiday reading:
Our colleague Sumitra travelled recently to the Gosainkunda Lakes and discovered how rejuvenating it can be after all the craziness of the pandemic. She also came back with valuable information on how best to travel during these times.
Read on.. http://socialtours.com/be-inspired/travel-diaries/trekking-during-the-pandemic-gosainkunda-lakes
Happy Holidays Again. We shall reconnect again as the New Year starts!
Namaste!
We love connecting and hearing from you. Join the socialtours community via the links below.
Facebook page
The socialtours | community group of Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialtoursnepal
Instagram handle - https://www.instagram.com/socialtours/
LinkedIn company page - https://www.linkedin.com/company/socialtours.com-travels
Twitter Handle - https://twitter.com/socialtours?lang=en
YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCemWmmHikk3ZwknyD3ZDKHA
23 November 2020
Namaste and warm greetings to everyone out there from Nepal. The autumn just ended and the winter is catching up soon. Though we don't have much snow in Kathmandu, the Himalayas have always been generous for snow. The festive season that lasts nearly a month just ended and people are gearing up for their daily routines once again.
So far 220,308 Covid-19 cases have been recorded among which 199,024 have recovered, 1,321 people have died and 19,963 cases are still active. The cases surely do seem to keep growing everyday but relatively less in number compared to the prior cases. The cases in Kathmandu Valley are more in number compared to the other areas. The lockdown prohibitory orders have been eased down and the only order that seems to be active is the odd/even rule in public and private transportation.
A progressive approach to resuming flights has started. Trekking and mountaineering groups are allowed to take foreign travelers up the mountains, however tourism beyond trekking has not resumed yet. A visa and permit must be obtained before travel, and trekkers should speak to their travel/trekking agency who can help make arrangements in advance.
- Eligible travelers must show proof of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of travel
- Fill out a passenger locator card and an online form before departure
- Obtain a visa/permit in advance
- One has to quarantine for seven days.
It is a bit of a process and a bit of running around, but we did practice it with one traveller who came in during November, so we are aware how it functions. There is a chance though that a new announcement will come mid December and the procedure will change - but we are never too sure that it will happen in Nepal. If you are considering coming, let us know, we are on top of this.
Land borders remain closed to foreigners as of date, and again this might change mid-December.
Team Socialtours has been working from home for a while now and has finally adapted to the new way of working. However, we're all connected with each other through the online platforms and phones. We have our team meeting once a week and adjusting ourselves to whatever the situation demands.
As a company, we have been quite active in supporting initiatives to prepare the country for travel, whenever that is possible. We helped design a set of mountain protocols and then lead a group of professionals to field test the protocols in Helambu. You can read that story here - https://nepalnow.org/my-stories/covid-preparedness-check-helambu-circuit-trek-revisited/
Post that, we helped develop some infographics to be used for COVID safe Mountain Tourism in Nepal - and then took that training to the Khumbu, and helped train over 500 people - locals, lodge owners, guides and porters on how to conduct covid safe tourism. Based on this, we also developed best practices videos for Breaking the Chain and for accommodations. Good fun proactive stuff - makes us feel that we are doing something rather than waiting around for things to start again. We also feel really prepared for travel when it happens - as we are gaining valuable field experience on how best to conduct operations once its possible. Follow our social media feeds to find out more about all these initiatives.
In Kathmandu, we have had to scale our offices down a bit at HUB, the conscious space we had designed along with Karma Coffee. But then, a pivot we had been planning for has taken off - we have brought in Highland produce from Manang and Karnali and are helping them via the KarmaDirect initiative to make high quality produce accessible in Kathmandu. Good fun again, and we are sure you will enjoy it the next time you are in Kathmandu.
The HUB collective has also grown now, from just socialtours and Karma coffee to ManangDirect, KarnaliDirect, and also an amazing organisation called Conscious Impact who has done incredible work in the mountains post earthquake, and Trail Angels - a Fair Trails initiative from Austria, who is now working in Nepal to initiative more sustainable trails - of which socialtours is also a part. Basically, all these initiatives are ensuring that the sustainable tribe is growing around us, and we are expanding the community. You can read about these initiatives on the HUB social media platforms - chief being on instagram - www.instagram.com/hub.thamel
We, of course, meanwhile, remain open to help with any queries, support that we can provide, news from the ground, and even preparations for coming to Nepal in the coming year.
Lockdown restrictions to contain COVID-19 in Nepal are subject to change with little
Notice, typical of how our government works. We believe however, that standard practices of masking up, washing hands often and maintaining safe distances wherever possible is enough to take us through this slump. Stay safe, we're waiting patiently to welcome you all again.
-Team Socialtours
Useful Links:
Government updates on the COVID situation https://heoc.mohp.gov.np/.
Current Official Entry Protocols: https://trade.welcomenepal.com/entry-protocol-for-mountaineering-expeditions-and-trekking-in-nepal/
Stories & Status from Nepal : http://www.nepalnow.org
Join the Friends of Nepal Network: http://www.friendsofnepal.travel
Visit Helambu: www.visithelambu.com
20 October 2020
Namaste from Autumn in Nepal. The monsoons have receded, and we have clear blue skies and while the days can be still pretty warm, it’s starting to be fresh around the edges - mornings and evenings. The shadows are longer, and we are in our festival season - Dashain.
When the pandemic first started during its first three months, Nepal just had a handful of cases and was considered as a green zone (safe to travel) and fast forward to October, and we have thousands of new cases every day and the denser parts of Nepal - Kathmandu in particular is a hot zone.
For some weird reason, even though our caseload has gone above 136,000, we have only recorded 757 deaths and the country has yet to declare it a health emergency. The people feel like the government has completely given up really. Regardless, the condition has come down to almost normalcy as people get used to the fact that they have to live with this virus amongst us, despite the growing number of cases. The lockdown prohibitory orders have been eased down and the only order seems to be active is the odd/even rule in private and public transportation.
Tourism and Entry Protocols
On September 14, the government announced to allow mountaineering and trekking only from October 17 to revive the country’s tourism industry. But that comes with a caveat that the tourists had to stay in mandatory quarantine for seven days before being allowed to hit the trail. They also have been required to get tested for COvid-19 at the end of the isolation period.
With Nepal’s biggest festival, Dashain getting close, the government has urged the public to celebrate at home. But people have been booking their tickets and travelling to their hometowns and villages and even the government has allowed us to use all the seats in public transportation with safety measures. There is a growing fear of a surge happening post Dashain.
In a twist, the Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai, who once said Nepal is free from the coronavirus and called on related government agencies to accelerate efforts to promote Nepal as a safe tourist destination, became the first minister to contract Covid-19 in the KP Sharma Oli Cabinet. The tourism industry is trying to stimulate more domestic tourism with a number of incentives, from discounts on travel and accommodation to make up for the lost business.
Team Socialtours has been working from home for a while now and has finally adapted to the new way of working. However, we're all connected with each other through the online platforms and phones. We have our team meeting once a week and adjusting ourselves to whatever the situation demands.
We even joined some industry professionals and went up into the Helambu Region for a COVID check of the area, and have been working with the local authorities to help develop COVID SAFE mountain tourism in Helambu, and if possible will also utilise this slack time to do that for other areas. If we manage to keep the mountains safe, we might be able to save trekking and tourism for next year. Raj wrote a story about the journey and it includes two videos that they made while there. Have a read. https://nepalnow.org/my-stories/covid-preparedness-check-helambu-circuit-trek-revisited/
Of course, meanwhile, we remain open to help with any queries, support that we can provide, news from the ground, and even preparations for coming to Nepal in the coming year.
Stay safe. Take care. We are here, and will continue to be here, and will keep taking what life throws us in the typical Nepali way - with a shrug and a smile!
- Team Socialtours
Useful Links:
Government updates on the COVID situation https://heoc.mohp.gov.np/.
Current Official Entry Protocols: https://trade.welcomenepal.com/entry-protocol-for-mountaineering-expeditions-and-trekking-in-nepal/
Read Stories from Nepal : http://www.nepalnow.org
Join the Friends of Nepal Network: http://www.friendsofnepal.travel
Visit Helambu: www.visithelambu.com
15 September 2020
Here is an update of the situation in Nepal as we move into the Fall Season.
When Nepal first got into lockdown on March 24, there weren't many cases but currently there are more than 55,000 cases. As per Worldometers, the total cases in Nepal is 56,788, 40,638 have recovered and 371 deaths in total dated 15 September 2020. Because of the rising cases, "Nishedhagya" (Prohibitory Order) was implemented from 20 August 2020 in Kathmandu Valley, the hotbed of cases at the moment. But still the cases have not gone down and the numbers are rising everyday in number by the thousands, as expected. The government is quite hostile and it doesn't seem like they're planning anything to control the situation. Things took a quite comedic turn after the mayor of Kathmandu was positive to COVID-19 and people started trolling him by making memes saying even a statue gets infected by the virus.
From 10 September 2020, the Prohibitory Order has been loosened a little in Kathmandu and gone back to the odd/even rule system for the vehicles whereas groceries, malls, shops and businesses have their respected days for opening their business. But the rules aren't applicable for the medical shops and daily consumer supplies. Intercity travel is not permitted at this time without the permit issued by the government. These rules have hopefully given some relief to the Nepali people.
Limited commercial flight service has resumed from Wednesday September 2 mostly for repatriation. Eight foreign carriers and two domestic carriers are offering international flights. After the loosening of lockdown in the valley, the government has permitted for the 50% occupancy in the taxis and buses. The long distance public transport will only be allowed to operate after September 16 as per the government. Wearing a mask is mandatory and the Government even fines those people who are found not to be wearing a mask. However, the public are what they are, hardly keeping to these rules.
For government updates on the COVID situation, you can visit https://heoc.mohp.gov.np/.
For lovely stories from Nepal that keep the dream alive, visit http://www.nepalnow.org
To keep yourself updated on a regular basis, join the Friends of Nepal network designed to do just that - http://www.friendsofnepal.travel
The monsoon isn't active as it was a few weeks ago. The floods and landslides had claimed about 350 lives making it the highest killer in Nepal. There are just a few showers here and there currently so hopefully that tapers down and spares our communities.
Team Socialtours had been working within protocols developed by the Nepal Tourism Board and is currently working from home. Two days before the Kathmandu District’s prohibitory orders Socialtours decided to scale down operations, hunker down and revert to working from home. We are assessing the situation on a weekly basis and adjusting our working style to whatever the situation demands.
All the celebrations have been put on hold currently and that's very taxing for the festival-friendly country. However, even through the hardships the Nepali people haven't forgotten to wear a smile, joke around and keep living.
While all this is going on, our message to you - keep the dream alive - Nepal is still the same and waiting patiently to welcome you again.
-Team Socialtours
26 August 2020
March 24 was the first time Nepal went into a lock-down with a handful of known cases and no fatalities.
Fast-forward to August 26, 2020, we have over 33,533 infected with close to 19119 having recovered and 164 fatalities. In-between the government eased the lock-down and the country came back to some semblance of normality, but this was only to be an eyewash as new cases spiked and local authorities hurriedly issued various prohibitory orders. The very unpredictable nature of the virus combined with the lackluster Government and citizen response does not allow us to lower our guard.
At this stage, the government has given the provincial government and district heads powers to issue prohibitory orders as deemed fit. Using these local laws the Kathmandu Valley has been declared to go into total shut down from today for a week. This one week has turned into two and could even go to three weeks or beyond. As of writing this update everything in the Kathmandu valley remains closed except for essential services like medical support and daily consumer supplies.
For government updates on the COVID situation, you can visit https://heoc.mohp.gov.np/.
The Monsoons are still very active though the intensity has waned over the past few days. The sun beats hard during the day while the evenings are greeted with cool showers. Landslides and floods have claimed some 350 lives so far making it the single largest killer ahead of the COVID-19 virus.
International and domestic flights have been scheduled to open on 01 September 2020 but we have had myriad postponements so expect this schedule to be revised again. The travel industry has stopped guessing the day and date when air travel will be allowed. All land travel has almost come to a standstill in the country with major towns like Pokhara, Biratnagar, and Birgunj still under a locally imposed lockdown. A total of 55 of the 77 districts are under lockdown fully or partially. A thick air of uncertainty hangs over most business and economic activities.
Team Socialtours had been working within protocols developed by the Nepal Tourism Board. Two days before the Kathmandu District’s prohibitory orders socialtours decided to scale down operations and reverted to working back from home. We are assessing the situation on a weekly basis and adjusting our working style to whatever the
situation demands.
The Nepalis are the way we are, that has not changed at all - still taking life as it gives - with smiles and laughter through all the hardship. No wonder we get a very resilient image! The prominent festival season is upon us but with the pandemic, all celebrations have been put on hold.
While all this is going on, our message to you - keep the dream alive - Nepal is still the same and waiting patiently to welcome you again.
Team Socialtours
17th July 2020
Namaste and greetings from Socialtours!
Three months of stringent lockdown from March 24th, 2020, 17000 plus odd cases with approximately half of them cured and roughly 39 COVID-related deaths Nepal has partially opened form June 15th 2020. For a country with 30 million people the figures are not too alarming and look under control. The very unpredictable nature of the virus does not allow us to lower our guard.
The government has eased the lockdown with most of the private vehicles and some public transportation plying the roads. Restaurants, stand-alone shop and malls are open following government laid down protocols. Gymnasiums, schools, theatres and sports-related activities remain closed till the date of writing. Hotels have been shut since March 24th and very unlikely to open soon. For government updates on the COVID situation, you can visit https://heoc.mohp.gov.np/.
The South East Monsoons has set in with all its fury in Nepal. Along with this comes flooding and landslides. More deaths have been reported from flooding and landslides than from Covid-19. This has made the people ponder over why we have had three months of lockdown.
International and domestic flights have been scheduled to open on the 1st of August 2020 but we have had umpteen postponements so expect this schedule to be revised again. We are looking at a more optimistic date of 1st September 2020. Though travel is allowed by land inter-district travel restrictions are still in place, which means while you can travel within the Kathmandu Valley you cannot travel to Pokhara.
Team Socialtours has been working within protocols developed by the Tourism Board with the team reporting for work alternatively. The team is working hard to have logistics and operations in place for the traveler as and when the country opens for tourism.
The Nepalis are the way we are, that has not changed at all - still taking life as it gives - with smiles and laughter through all the hardship. No wonder we get a very resilient image! It’s the big agriculture season in Nepal, and the countryside is lush, with crops in all fields. A lot of people have returned to the villages, making life even more social and merry, and agriculture is booming. One good side effect of this crisis! While all this is going on, our message to you - keep the dreams alive - Nepal is still the same and waiting patiently to welcome you again.
22nd May 2020
Namaste from the team here at socialtours! We hope you are keeping safe and the worldwide lockdown is not causing boredom or cabin fever.
In Nepal, we have entered into our tenth week of lockdown, and like everyone else, the team is working from home. The Great Pause has been working very well in Nepal but just as the saying goes that everything comes with a price. The economy has taken a battering the well-being of the general populace is also being impacted. Currently, Nepal has reported 487 cases of COVID19 and among them, 49 have recovered, with 3 deaths so far. Till recently the death toll from COVID19 was zero but the infection rate has begun to climb as is the norm elsewhere before what we believe will be the flattening of the curve.
It was a drastic transition when we first started working from home but now the team has got used to it. The time that the lockdown has provided us has rather helped us in developing our websites to be better. Besides work, the team members have learned to keep themselves busy at home. From enjoying time with family and also doing hobbies we were not able to do- some growing vegetables, working on the farm, learning new cooking skills, or just keeping healthy! To sum it up in a sentence, we have learned to adjust to the new normal.
We are also working on how to save the business, and ensure that the stakeholders who rely on the economy do not get left out - our immediate team, guides, porters, drivers, hotels, lodges, homestays, farmers, and all the other tertiary business that rely on companies like ours. It's going to be a long road to recovery, but we are going to making every attempt possible.
Since the lockdown, we started working with our friends in the industry (particularly Ian Cumming from Travel Massive) and with the Nepal Tourism Board Crisis Cell to repatriate stranded travelers and helped initiate the www.strandedinnepal.com website, which is now becoming a world example of how to handle travelers in a situation like this. We have also been working on a post-COVID 19 work protocol, for tourism associated stakeholders. The link is attached for your reference. Though the document is not yet completed you could use it or adapt it to suit your operation.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/162XWnXywz4oY-Zd--g-1PbOOUfsBhbsv/edit?fbclid=IwAR2KTQAiQGn4r5lvT5VpujM_WWZD77u910EfMkQEdBCN3EtTe4z79Q-7bJw
BCN3EtTe4z79Q-7bJw
We also retrained ourselves to work from home, and now use a combination of emails, Google Drives, Trello, and Slack to keep the business alive and reply and communicate with our partners, both domestic and international.
We developed very quickly a crisis management and recovery training resource for tourism businesses, and kickstarted a weekly online meeting to understand the situation and synergies and collaborate with the industry.
We launched the dream NOW. visit LATER campaign for Nepal, to keep Nepal in travelers minds. You might enjoy this small video we made, as a good memory of your time in Nepal represents the campaign.
dream NOW | visit LATER Video
We are working on keeping the economy and jobs alive by starting some online experiences - online cooking courses (maybe you want to revisit and learn that amazing dish you tried out in Nepal), guided virtual tours of Kathmandu and Nepal and even collaborating to develop virtual internships! If any of these interest you, do let us know!
So much about us! We would also love to hear from you. It is the time we come together, as a human race, to rethink how we move ahead, forging a new tomorrow.
In the meantime. Stay Home. Do your bit. The world relies on it!
13th March 2020
This is to bring you all the updates on the current status of Nepal regarding the threat of the Wuhan Coronavirus (COVID 19).
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UPDATE: France, Germany and Spain added to the list of countries whose citizens will not get visa on arrival. Visa is still available but only through the Nepalese embassies in the respective countries and on producing a Health Certificate. The other countries on the list are Iran, Korea, China, Japan and Italy
There's a suspension of On-Arrival Visa to all countries from the 14th of March 2020 to 30th of April 2020 in Nepal. Swab Test PCR is required for all the people including Nepali as well as NRNs who are travelling to Nepal from 14th of March 2020 till 30th of April 2020. All the people coming to Nepal must stay in Quarantine for 14 days within these days.
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According to the Ministry of Health Government of Nepal, a Nepali national who was confirmed to be infected with the Novel Coronavirus is now fully recovered. He has been discharged from the hospital within the week once the last observations on the test results were done. (Source: Ministry of Health, Government of Nepal)
To date, besides the above-mentioned case, no other Nepali or citizen of another country has been identified as being infected by the virus. (Source: Ministry of Health – Government of Nepal)
The 175 university students and Nepali nationals who were brought to Nepal on the 14th of February 2020, from Wuhan, China, were sent to the special quarantine unit away from human settlements with all modern testing and monitoring facilities. They will remain in quarantine for 2 weeks before being tested for a final time before their discharge. The unit is fully equipped with all the necessary medical facilities needed for the isolation and the treatment of the individuals - if confirmed infected. So far none of them have shown signs of the infection nor confirmed as being infected by the virus, despite several tests. (Source: Ministry of Health – Government of Nepal)
The security measures taken at the Airports, Land Borders and Hospitals, etc are still active in the same manner and a special Task Force team is actively overseeing the measures taken, under the direct supervision of the ministry of health. The Ministry is also furnishing a daily SITREP to the World Health Organisation (Source: Health Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN)
Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital (STIDH) – Kathmandu is now equipped with a special unit with all the required medical / staffing facilities and is ready to serve the public in any situation that might occur. Other hospitals under the instruction of the Ministry of Health have certain sections isolated and kept ready for any eventuality should that arise. (Source: Ministry of Health – Government of Nepal)
Also, the general public is continuously being educated on preventative measures needed in order to minimize the risk of getting infected, via a joint effort of WHO and the Ministry of Health, media channels and through regional health departments.
As a whole, we are pleased to inform everyone that Nepal doing what it can in the face of the COVID 19 threat and can responsibly state that to date, the country remains OK for travel. Should there be any changes on the ground we will keep you updated. Nepal’s distinct advantage is that we have only one international airport, which has a very small amount of transit passengers and since it's a small airport, not too many flights.
As of now, no cancellations nor alterations are required for travel to Nepal.
Please visit the Data analyzed from the World Health Organization (WHO) link below for information
https://www.safetydetectives.com/novel-coronavirus-ncov-real-time-report/
