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As of Thursday, there were just 15 active Covid-19 cases in Nepal. But three cases of the Omicron subvariant BF.7—a newly discovered variant—have been found in China and India. The Omicron variant BA.5, of which BF.7 is a sub-lineage, has the strongest ability to cause infection since it’s highly contagious, incubates quickly, and has the ability to infect even those who have received vaccinations.

International media reports that the extremely contagious Omicron strain, primarily BF.7, which is the major variant circulating in Beijing, is currently affecting other cities of China as well. The US, the UK, as well as European countries including Belgium, Germany, France, and Denmark have already reported the new variant. The BF.7, which is believed to be the reason behind the rise of Covid cases in China, is a mutation of the BA.4/5.

Except for China, practically everywhere else it evolved, the new variant has remained steady. No variant, apart from the Delta variant,  has been found to have a high mortality rate, despite the fact that several variants have some capacity to resist immunity acquired from previous infections or vaccinations.  A recent study indicated that BF.7 could infect even those who have received a third booster dose of the vaccine.

With the exception of China, no scientific investigation has found that it has raised hospitalization rates or overstretched the healthcare system. Dr Sher Bahadur Pun of Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku, Kathmandu says Nepal needs to keep a close watch on how things progress in India. “There is no need to panic but we must remain vigilant,” he says. 

A press release by the Ministry of Health and Population said though the BF.7 variant hasn’t been seen in Nepal, many other variants have been found in samples collected from different places of the country in the past month. The ministry has urged the public to wear masks, maintain social distance, and wash hands properly. 

Flights have been disrupted at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) due to foggy weather in the Kathmandu Valley since early this morning. The domestic and international flights to and from the TIA have been affected since Thursday morning. TIA General Manager Premnath Thakur said though some flights were landed in the airport this morning, both domestic and international flights could not take off later. "Due to bad weather and poor visibility, some flights to be landed at TIA were diverted", he said. Flights will be operated smoothly once the weather condition improves, Thakur added.  

While six Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), namely UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman along with the east Asian nation Malaysia still take 80 percent of Nepali migrant workers annually, central and eastern European countries have emerged as new destinations for foreign jobs for Nepali migrant workers. According to the Nepal Labor Migration Report 2022, the United Kingdom, Albania, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Cyprus are being increasingly preferred by Nepali migrant workers for foreign employment. Similarly, Turkey in West Asia and the Maldives in South Asia also attract Nepali workers in large numbers. As wages and facilities are comparatively better in Europe than in GCC countries Nepali workers are choosing European countries over the Gulf nations. The average monthly income of Nepali workers in Gulf countries is Rs 30-40,000, and those working in European countries can earn Rs 100,000-150,000. The report states individual labor approvals for the United Kingdom increased by a whopping 975 percent in FY 2021/22 while that of Croatia increased by 247 percent. Similarly, labor approvals for Poland and Turkey surged by 251 and 101 percent respectively. The labor approvals issued for the Maldives increased from 2450 in 2017/18 to 6591 in 2021/22. Jordan and Malta have also seen a significant increase in the number of Nepali migrant workers going there. The rising popularity of these destinations could be due to the policy introduced by the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) in 2022, to provide individual labor approvals to workers seeking to migrate to countries like Albania, Croatia, Poland, and Romania, among others. The report shows there has also been growth in the number of labor approvals for Nepalis going to the United Kingdom. The labor approvals for the UK increased by 95 percent in 2021/22 compared to 2017/18. The increase is due to the UK's exit from the European Union, causing labor shortages and resulting in the introduction of various temporary visas by the UK government for migrant workers for seasonal jobs. The UK government data shows that 599 Nepali citizens received temporary visas in 2021 and 415 in the first quarter of 2022 for skilled and temporary work. According to the report, "between January-March 2022, Nepal ranked fourth highest among the list of source countries for seasonal workers." The report further said, "the increase in the number of labor approvals for the UK could be due to the introduction of seasonal work visas." The data of the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) correlates with the fact stated by the Nepal Labor Migration Report. According to the DoFE data, 5,997 Nepalis have reached Romania for foreign employment in the last 6 months alone while 4,256 have reached Croatia and 3,431 have reached Malta. Similarly, 2280 Nepali workers reached Cyprus for foreign jobs during the same period. Similarly, more Nepali workers are going to African countries including Mauritius and Seychelles. Official statistics show 228 Nepalis have reached Mauritius and 311 reached Seychelles in the last six months. The number of countries to which Nepalis are migrating for foreign employment has reached 150. While the government has approved 111 countries for labor migration through recruitment agencies, Nepalis are going to other than those approved after obtaining individual labor approvals. According to the report, there is variation in the pattern between men and women migration. Countries like Cyprus, Jordan, Turkey, Romania, Croatia and Malta are attractive destinations for women compared to men.  

The Supreme Court has issued an interim order against the Nepal Army’s move to award the contract of the sixth package of the Kathmandu-Nijgadh Fast Track project to a controversial Chinese company. The Nepal Army on December 12 had sent a letter to the Chinese company and asked its officials to come to the Nepal Army headquarters within 15 days for the contract agreement. Responding to a writ petition filed by advocate Rojan Khadka on behalf of an Indian company—Afcons Infrastructure Limited, on Tuesday, a single bench of Justice Tanka Bahadur Moktan on Wednesday issued an interim order directing the Nepal Army to not award the contract to the Chinese company at a time when the case is under consideration at the court. In his writ, Khadka had demanded that the Nepal Army’s invitation to award the contract to the Chinese company be stopped at the earliest. After the hearing on December 6, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki and Justice Pushpalata Mathema on December 12 had ordered the Nepal Army to submit the original documents of the contract. But, the Nepal Army wrote a letter to the Chinese company—China First Highway Engineering Company Limited, on December 12 and asked the officials to come to the Nepal Army headquarters within 15 days for the contract agreement. Later, the Indian company—Afcons Infrastructure Limited on December 20 filed a writ against the decision of the Nepal Army. Nepal Army, in charge of the project, on November 11 had decided to award the contract to the China First Highway Engineering Co. Ltd, which was disqualified earlier in the bidding process. Later, the company was deemed qualified and included in the bidding process on November 6. A total of 12 companies had applied for the bidding process of ‘Double Lane Dual Carriageway Standard Expressway Road, Bridge, Slope Stabilization, Interchange, Toll Plaza and Allied Works, in the sixth package of the Kathmandu-Tarai-Madhesh Expressway. Based on Nepal Army’s technical evaluation, five companies were qualified for the bidding process. The China First Highway Engineering Co. Ltd, which was not selected in the bidding process, filed a case against the decision at the Public Procurement Review Committee. Later, the Committee issued a directive to include the Chinese company in the bidding process which was called on June 1. After the inclusion of China First Highway Engineering Co. Ltd, six companies were selected for the bidding process. Of the qualified companies, CFHEC won the contract to construct the fast track at Rs 18. 80 billion.