Amid a steady rise in new coronavirus cases, the Covid-19 Crisis Management Coordination Centre has issued a circular to hospitals throughout the country to start necessary preparations to deal with a possible increase in hospitalisations.

Officials said they have also alerted hospitals to check if the ventilators and equipment in their intensive care units and high dependency units are in operational condition.

“We have directed hospitals to remain on standby to deal with a possible surge in new cases,” said Shankar Nepal, joint secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, who is also a member of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Coordination Centre (CCMCC). “We have also directed the relevant agencies to check if existing laboratories for conducting polymerase chain reaction tests are functional or not and to increase testing.”

The government had formed the CMCCC for coordination among various agencies responsible to contain the spread of infections after the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Of late, multiple new sub-variants of Omicron—BA.5, BA.5.2. BA.2.75. BA.2.73, BA.2.12.1, BA.2.38, and BF.1—have been detected in swab samples of the infected people.

The Ministry of Health and Population has already confirmed infections by BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 but has not said anything regarding the detection of new sub-variants so far.

Joint Secretary Nepal said that his office has been analysing the risk and trend of infection.

“We are keeping track of infections in the neighbouring Indian states where the trend is on an upward side,” he said.

India on Thursday recorded a single-day rise of 21,566 new coronavirus cases, the highest in 152 days, and 45 fatalities, according to media reports.

Indian states like West Bengal, Bihar, Sikkim and Uttarakhand have been reporting a surge in new cases, according to the CCMCC.

Nepal and India share a 1,800-kilometre porous border through which people from both sides cross over into each other’s lands on a daily basis. Tens of thousands of Nepalis work in India and many of them keep crossing into their homeland regularly.

CCMCC officials said that Nepal needs to increase testing on people returning from India, but it is easier said than done.

As the authorities concerned in Nepal have not taken any significant steps to prevent the spread of infections, public health experts have warned that many people may get infected with the coronavirus.

“We do not know how contagious the new sub-variants of the virus are,” said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital. “But most of the population could get infected by the new sub-variants, as the public appears complacent about the risks and authorities have not taken any measures to contain the spread.”

On Thursday, 435 people tested positive for coronavirus—317 in 1,667 polymerase chain reaction tests and 118 in 1,902 antigen tests.

The daily test positivity rate of the polymerase chain reaction tests is over 19 percent. The daily test positivity rate of antigen tests is over six percent.

The number of active cases stands at 2,537 throughout the country.

Of the total infected people on Thursday 46 are under 20 years old.

According to the Health Ministry, 24 infected patients, whose health conditions are serious, have been receiving intensive care in various hospitals and 29 others have been admitted to hospitals’ high dependency units.

Doctors say that health authorities might not know about the virus variants causing infection in the country.

“If we carried out more testing, more cases of infection would be identified,” said Dr Janak Koirala, an infectious disease expert.

Since the country doesn’t know much about the virus variants in circulation, and authorities concerned are also not taking measures to control the spread, people themselves should become cautious and follow the safety measures, he said.

The BA.5 sub-variant of Omicron was confirmed a few days ago but officials say that they are not sure if the same sub-variant or other new sub-variants are responsible for the new surge.

“Everyone is at risk of infection, as no measures have been taken to control the spread of the virus,” said Dr Niraj Bam, an associate professor at the Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University. “One should contact the doctors or visit the hospital if they feel that they are getting serious.”

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said that it does not have any planning regarding preventive measures except raising awareness about the risks.

“The number of new cases will increase in the coming days, as the virus is spreading and infections have yet to peak,” said Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson for the Health Ministry. “People should be cautious and take measures accordingly.”