Kathmandu, June 3 -- Many public health specialists in Nepal have been heaving a sigh of relief that the infection graph for the second wave is starting to flatten, but with reports of black fungus, third wave and new variants there is no respite.

Everything that India has suffered since March has repeated itself in Nepal on a smaller scale. The black fungus outbreak could be a microcosm of the post-second wave world, of 'epidemics within a pandemic' as opportunistic infections and new Covid-19 waves prey on collapsed health systems.

In theory, Nepal should not have a strong flare-up like India because we have fewer risk characteristics, says epidemiologist Lhamo Yangchen Sherpa.

"Covid is communicable so it spreads regardless of demog...