Kathmandu, May 2 -- It seems like age ago now, but only a month ago even prominent doctors in India were declaring that the country had defeated the novel coronavirus.

They felt that herd immunity in cities like Delhi would protect people from infection and death. Based on a few dubious studies, they conceded that a large proportion of Indians had acquired herd immunity through mild or asymptomatic Covid-19 infections.

Just like the theory that a lifetime exposure to germs would protect South Asians, herd immunity also turned out not to be true.

Here in Nepal we are seeing a surge that is proportionately similar to India. The exponential rise in the number of cases, infection of younger cohorts, and the severity of the disease, bear al...