# Prem Sagar Poudel
Life in Tibet, which has been locked down due to the Corona virus, is gradually returning to normal. People’s lives affected by Corona are slowly returning to ease. On August 6, 2022, the capital of Tibet, including Lhasa, was partially locked down after the corona infection in Tibet.
Along with the partial lockdown, life in Tibet was affected due to the lockdown. However, because the lockdown is considered as a better option than the value of people’s lives, Tibet seems to have chosen the latter option. Contrary to the American thinking of prioritizing economic development over the lives of its people, China has been using lockdown as an alternative to control the corona infection.
The first infection was seen in Wuhan, China in December 2019. As soon as the first infection appeared, China started efforts to manage the infection by completely locking down the city of Wuhan. This model of corona infection management put forward by China was used in many countries of the world.
The US was not in favor of this successful code put forward by China. The then President Donald Trump was against the lockdown. His idea that the people should not be locked up during the corona infection caused much more damage to America than China. America had lots of difficulties to control the corona infection.
From Wuhan to Tibet, China has been using the lockdown model. With the appearance of the corona infection, it seems that China is working to advance the lockdown and testing together to weaken the effect of the infection. By doing this, the cycle of corona infection will be broken and the number of infected people will not increase, the Chinese model has made it clear.
Alert on time
Corona infections are still increasing in Nepal. However, the issue of infection is not much discussed when it spreads in Nepal. Recently, on August 11, the number of corona infected in Tibet was 25. The number of infected was seen in Sigatse, Lhasa, Nyangtri and Lhoka. In this way, the Tibetan authorities estimated that the infection spread throughout Tibet. Therefore, in the first phase, they greatly increased the testing work.
Nagchu (Naku) and Chamdo (Changdu) and temporary hospitals in Chamdo also started testing for Covid. The result of the initial test gave more strength to the assumption that the corona infection spread more than thought. On the other hand, the local authorities came to the conclusion that the infection has reached in the community level.
As the infection spread, finding its cause was another important task. Of course, at this stage, finding out who caused the corona infection to spread from one place to another was another important task. Tibet seems to have achieved success in all these works. On August 9 alone, 22 infected people were found in Jizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region in southwestern China. This is the highest number seen in the region after 920 days. Most of them showed no symptoms.
They were all living in Sigatse. They boarded the same train from Sigatse to Lhasa on August 6, Global Times reported. Sigatse is a trading center in Tibet. In the city of eight lakh population, the means of transport were closed after it was seen that the corona infection had started to spread due to the trains.
There seem to be two main reasons behind the spread of Covid in Tibet. The first is the transition rate of Omicron. Omicron has the ability to transmit the fastest among the corona viruses found so far. The next is increase in the influx of people during the summer vacation. It is customary to have a summer vacation in China in the month of August. People who return to work after Chinese New Year go out again during the summer vacation. Of course, this time is the time of internal tourism. Therefore, this time corona infection has spread in Tibet through domestic tourism.
All closed
In many countries of the world, even now, the corona infection has not been zero. The number of people facing problems due to corona infection is also in most of the countries. Efforts to manage the infection in an open rather than a closed manner are seen in many countries. It seems that there are two ways of trying to control the corona virus: reducing the infection to zero or moving forward with the infection. China has adopted zero corona policy.
Many examples have shown that the rate of corona infection will not drop to zero unless the lockdown is imposed. China showed the world by reducing the corona infection to zero through the lockdown. Tibet has also controlled the infection recently in this process. In other words, corona could not spread in Tibet due to the thought of reducing the infection to zero.
Potala Palace, the traditional home of Tibetan Buddhist monks, has also been closed due to Corona. Tibet’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism. Potala is a major tourist attraction in Tibet. Everyday thousands of tourists used to visit Potala Palace.
Summer is also the best time to visit Tibet. Therefore, those who travel to Tibet at this time are in the grip of corona infection. Currently, 8 million tourists are stuck in Tibet due to Corona. However, it seems that the problem has not become complicated because the government has paid attention to their management. Western media have started raising this issue.
Due to Corona, all border crossings into Tibet have been closed. The two crossings from Nepal to Tibet have also been closed now. Tatopani crossing has also been closed since 25 July after the lockdown. In addition to this, another Rasuwagadhi crossing which is being used by Nepal is also closed now. Due to the blockade, trucks loaded with goods to Nepal are stopped in Tibet.
Materials such as ready-made garments, apples, electronic materials, construction materials, shoes, slippers, glasses frames etc. are imported through Rasuwagadhi crossing. Similarly, bamboo wraps, wooden materials, and handicraft materials are exported from Nepal. Before the closure of the crossing, two Chinese vehicles were importing materials daily through the Tatopani crossing. Since the festival has started in Nepal, it seems that the blockade will affect the Nepalese market.
As the apple season has started, it seems that the Nepali market will be filled with Indian apples as apples cannot come from China. There is also a possibility that there will be a lack of necessary preparation clothes for Dashain, the main festival of Nepali people, which will start from the next month. However, because business is not more important than people’s lives, opening the border should not be a priority during Corona.
Propoganda
When the corona infection started to increase in Tibet, Tibetan authorities worked according to plan. They were guided by the experienced central government of China, which has adopted a successful model in Corona management. When Tibet does this, it seems that the Dalai Lama’s authority has more headaches than the people inside Tibet. It had a good impact in Nepal as well.
After the earthquake in 2072 BS (2015 AD), there has been a problem in the operation of the Nepal-China border crossing. However, the government of Nepal seems to be blaming China more than solving the problem. The government has not yet paid attention to building infrastructure towards Nepal. The attention of traders is more focused on bringing apples and selling them in India rather than bringing other goods from China. The government of Nepal has not yet asked the businessmen why other goods could not come from the border crossing where apples can come.
With the increase in infections in Tibet, the border crossing with Nepal was closed. Nepal’s Western-backed media published news that the border was closed without even informing Nepal. While such news was being made public in Nepal, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka had just returned from a visit to China. However, the government did not even pay attention to normalizing the news in the media.
With the lockdown in Tibet, corona testing has been greatly increased. All people have been requested to stay at home. Many are working from home. Therefore, the impact of the lockdown seems to be only normal. However, the western media did not hesitate to lift the lockdown on the topic of tourism. According to the Tibetan authorities, they will arrange for the tourists who are stuck in Tibet to be safely sent out of Tibet after the corona test.
China’s National Health Commission has urged all provinces in China to treat patients with mild or no symptoms of Covid-19 at home. The Commission has requested this to reduce the pressure on the hospital system. Two to three temporary hospitals have been set up in each province. On the order of the Commission, the construction of the temporary hospital was started in March. At that time, 33 temporary hospitals were built in 12 provinces keeping in mind the possibility of corona spreading in Tibet. Now arrangements have been made to treat the infected in the same hospital.
It seems that Tibetan authorities have paid special attention to prevent shortage of daily necessities during the lockdown. According to the statistics of August 12, Tibet has 67 days of meat and 16 days of vegetables in stock. Most supermarkets and other markets are selling daily necessities. Despite the lockdown, the price of goods has remained stable. A group of students led by the dean of Tsinghua University, Professor Li Xiguang, is providing essential materials to Tibetan citizens by reaching villages. In addition, other groups are also conducting support programs.
The Chinese government has sent a team of expert doctors from all over to Tibet. According to officials, great care has been taken to facilitate the life of the common people in Tibet. Despite being the oldest trading partner of Nepal, Nepal is silent on the issue of Tibet. When the covid infection was increasing in Nepal, Tibet gave heartily support. Tibet’s support was hidden by the Nepal government without publicizing it. At present, when there is a problem in China’s Tibet, the Nepalese government is not only pretending that it did not see or did not know, but it has also ignored the effective measures taken to control the corona virus infection by China. My sincere thanks and best wishes for success to the great Tibetan people, the Tibetan government of China and all the supporters who are working day and night to save the corona infected people !
