The COVID-19 crisis in India is overshadowing a mounting disaster in neighboring Nepal, where a similar surge caused multiple hospitals in the capital of Kathmandu to reject new patients.
Om Hospital and Research Center said Sunday it is running out of oxygen.
“Though we are ready to treat the patients, we are unable to take new admissions as the amount of oxygen supplied by the government on a quota-basis won’t be sufficient for new patients,” the hospital said Sunday. “We’ll resume our services as usual once the regular supply of oxygen is ensured.”
The Asian country of about 28 million on Sunday recorded nearly 9,000 cases in a 24-hour period. It has recorded 3,720 deaths.
Things have gotten so bad that Chinese state media said a team will erect a “line of separation” between their side of Mount Everest and the Nepalese side.
It was unclear what a barrier would look like, though it reflected the extent of the crisis in Nepal and measures China’s communist government will take to thwart the virus.
The Nepal Mountaineering Association asked climbers on Mount Everest to return empty oxygen containers instead of discarding them on the mountain so hospitals can refill them as part of the COVID-19 fight.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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