Kathmandu, Aug. 24 -- As serious as the rapid spread in Nepal of the novel coronavirus looks, even more frightening is what the lockdown meant to prevent it will do to the country's economy. The health impact of the virus may pale in comparison to long-term damage to the country from a prolonged lockdown that enters its sixth month today.

It is difficult to make predictions on how Nepal's economy will fare till the end of the year because that will depend on how the virus behaves. But all indications are of that SARS-CoV-2 is here to stay, and that it will resurface with added virulence in winter.

On 21 July when Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada triumphantly announced that the pandemic in Nepal had peaked, and the lockdown had been li...