Nepal, March 5 -- 2003, when severe acute respiratory syndrome-1 (SARS-CoV-1) first emerged in China, it triggered a global alert, including in Nepal. I was then working as a junior medical officer, where I mostly provided care to patients suspected of having SARS-CoV-1 cases at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, although none were laboratory-confirmed. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), SARS-CoV-1 was reported in 29 countries and resulted in 774 deaths due to its complications. No cases of SARS-CoV-1 have been reported since 2004.

Likewise, SARS-CoV-2, which emerged in 2019 and caused coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), was first reported in Wuhan, China, as a SARS-like pneumonia, resulting in hundreds of...