**photo: Navesh Chitrakar, 5 May 2021, Kathmandu.

Australia is sending ventilators and oxygen concentrators to India. This is really important. And we want the same to be done for Nepal so they can survive this COVID crisis. 

Nepal's daily COVID cases have rapidly risen from 47 people (7th March 21) to 9127 people (10th May 21). It is now recording 57 times more cases than a month ago. 

The COVID positivity rate- the percentage of people who are tested and are found to be positive- has reached 45% and has risen from 25%, 2 weeks ago. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that you need this to be 5% to be able to manage a COVID outbreak.

WHO's weekly snapshot (26th April 2021) reported that while India's COVID incidence was 1200/100,000, Nepal's is not far behind at 997/100,000, and that the cases the week before had risen a staggering 137%. 

On the 5th May 2021, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cross Societies' Nepal chairperson Dr Netra Prasad Timsina said, "What is happening in India right now is a horrifying preview of Nepal's future if we cannot contain this latest COVID surge that is claiming more lives by the minute."

Australians can't stand to see this happen. It is breaking our hearts. So many Australians love Nepal. We saw this with the outpouring of support from Australians following the 2015 earthquake. We go to Nepal for a one-off trek or a holiday and then...so many of us return again and again and again. Not only does the Himalayas draw us back, but if you ask anyone who has been, what is the attraction? Everyone will give you the same answer- it's the people. At the end of June 2018, 94,470 Nepalese−born people were living in Australia too. 

Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reportedly sent a circular to all its embassies around the world (Australia hosts a Nepali Embassy in Canberra).  Nepal is asking for help to deal with this terrible second wave of COVID, and has provided a list of medicines and the medical equipment that is required. 

We ask Senator The Hon Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs to please urgently speak with Nepal's Ambassador to Australia, H.E. Mr Mahesh Raj Dahal and Australia's Ambassador to Nepal, Ms Felicity Volk, and to listen to this call for help.  

We ask the Minister to lead the way and work with the right people to organise essential support to be flown to Nepal as soon as possible. 

The people of Nepal need Australia's help now.  We can do this.  We must do this.