The airspace of Nepal has been busier than ever (Post lockdown) with the repatriation flights bringing back the stranded Nepalese citizens from abroad.  The lockdown was partially lifted on the 12th of June but the aviation ban was still on till the 5th of July which has further been extended recently till the midnight of 21st of July 2020. However, rescue flights, freighter flights, flights related to medical and other essential supplies are still allowed with special permission from CAAN as before.

The government's effort to bring back the stranded Nepalese citizens abroad is highly applaudable. Though the government had initially planned to bring back 30,000 Nepalese which now has decreased to 12,000. The Government has adopted a new policy to gradually bring the rest of the stranded citizens on a priority basis.

The government had also announced that 12,000 stranded Nepalese would be evacuated by June 30 in a total of 80 Chartered flights while the rest of the stranded citizens will be rescued in the seco0nd phase on priority on the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign affairs.  “As several countries have eased the lockdo0wn and business activities have resumed, the number of Nepalese willing to return home urgently is declining,” said a source at MOFA.

The list below shows the total International repatriation flights conducted since 18 June till 30 June 2020. These flights brought back stranded Nepalese citizens abroad. However, the outbound repatriation flights with foreigners and inbound flights with cargo are not listed on this.

1.           June 18 – 4 Flights – 414 Adults (150, 146+1ch, 117)

2.           June 19 – 4 flights – 494 Adults (153, 150, 148, 43)

3.           June 20 – 5 flights – 997 Adults and 4 Child (228, 150, 155, 236+3ch, 168+1ch)

4.           June 21 – 5 flights – 889 Adults and 11 child (246+1ch, 146+3ch, 152+1ch, 161+5ch, 184+1ch)

5.           June 22 – 3 flights – 487 Adults (150, 72, 165)

6.           June 23 – 6 flights – 783 Adults (144, 160, 78, 143, 258)

7.           June 24 – 6 flights – 999 Adults, 3ch and 1 dead body (154, 255+1dead, 149+3ch, 155, 4, 282)

8.          June 25 – 7 flights – 1183 adults, 4 child (154, 149, 146+1ch, 156, 147, 189+1ch, 242+2ch)

9.           June 26 – 6 flights – 1003 adults, 15 dead bodies (142, 131, 160, 148+1body, 168, 254+14body)

10.       June 27 – 8 flights – 1315 adults,8 child and 15 bodies (81+1ch, 241+1ch, 143+4ch, 146, 154, 86, 254+15bod, 210+2ch)

11.        June 28 – 0 flights – No inbound flights with rescued Nepalese

12.        June 29 – 4 flights – 597 adults, 1 dead body (141+1bod, 139, 157, 160)

13.        June 30 – 8 flights – 1518 adults, 1 infant and 11 dead bodies ( 149, 261+1inf+1bod, 146, 262+10bod, 153, 225, 160, 162)

There are still repatriation flights after the 3oth of June, and the list below shows the details

1.           July 1 – 9 flights – 1342 adults. 12 bodies (145+1bod, 257+11bod, 152, 152, 13, 159, 160, 158, 146)

2.           July 2 – 8 flights – 1241 adults, 1 infant and 2 bodies (255, 222, 104+1inf, 152+2bod, 160, 160, 162, 26)

3.           July 3 – 6 flights – 917 adults, 1 infant and 2 bodies (145+2bod, 142, 147, 176, 140+1inf, 167)

4.           July 4 – 7 flights – 1082 adults, 10 bodies (249+5bod, 144, 154+2bod, 156, 96+3bod, 127, 156)

5.           July 5 – 4 flights – 604 adults (147, 149, 152, 156)

The cases here in Nepal are still on the rise with daily infected cases ranging from 450-750 each day. Yesterday, Sunday 5th July, Nepal saw 293 new cases, which is the lowest since the lockdown was lifted. Till date, the total number of confirmed cases are 15784, while 6547 have recovered and 9203 are active cases with 34 casualties. The total number of tests carried out are 562,731 combining both PCR and RDT tests until Sunday evening.

The lift of the lockdown saw businesses open up, restaurant offering takeaways and deliveries, some offices operating with skeleton staff while some other business are still on hold for operating. (Covered in last week’s email). We see a lot of awareness among the citizens here, people maintain a safe distance on stores, a safe distance while walking and using masks, sanitizing hands, and keeping healthy hygiene. We are also seeing a few restaurants open to sit in and dine with social distancing practicing high safety measures, which we think is the future for us and is going to be the new normal.

We sincerely hope that the cases will start to go down, people will adapt to the new normal and pay more attention to the safety of themselves and others in the community. Keeping yourself safe is keeping your family safe.