UPDATE: 1/09/2020

Hey there all,
On the 23rd March, in an attempt to suppress the spread of Coronavirus the Government of Nepal initiated a lockdown of the country which included both heavy travel restrictions/border closures and work stoppages. These restrictions caused a lot of production issues but the first wave was eventually beaten back and in remission. Our staff were able to return to Kathmandu and we were able to all but eliminate order backlogs and get back to our usual excellent workshop function. With this decline in cases, so came a full easing of restrictions and with it an influx of undiagnosed cases from rural areas back into the city. As of a week ago Nepal hit its new highest daily cases and on the 20th of August reinstated a full lockdown. This is stated to be for a week, however if the previous lockdown and wave is anything to go by then we can expect this to continue for another 5-10 weeks or as soon as case numbers have dropped, with restrictions gradually loosening along the way.

These Case numbers in Nepal are low compared to the rest of the world, but Nepal’s pre existing healthcare issues leave them vulnerable to a much higher death rate. A weak public healthcare system, limited government funding and a large urban and rural poor with sub standard sanitation combine to create a situation where widespread growth could be accelerated and hospitals that could quickly be overrun. As a result action from the government of Nepal so far has been quite proactive and very strong, shutting down industry and fully restricting travel very readily. While this has proven effective at curbing growth, the lack of financial support to its citizens has led to a yoyo-ing of cases as people rush back to work, market and support themselves in the gaps between lockdowns.

This national lockdown extends to school and bus closures but of particular note is a closure of its borders to both people and goods.This national lockdown extends to school and bus closures but of particular note is a closure of its borders to both people and goods. While initally it seemed as though we would be completely unable to ship goods, we’ve been able to squeeze through a few small shipments since the beginning of lockdown. Hopefully this continues, though it may not be consistently available or allow for the size/ variety of blades that we need shipped. If this shipping restriction tightens again it will disproportionately affect those who have been waiting for their orders already, while those who have placed their orders recently may not be affected. During the previous lockdown this specific measure only lasted 3 weeks, however given the amount of momentum this current wave has had before restrictions have come in, it could be longer. When it does come in properly we can expect shipping to be possible roughly fortnightly with only khukuris shipping at first then western blades afterwards before gradually increasing in breadth and regularity.

This lockdown differs from the previous one through some more flexibility for those in industry, with tighter restrictions on the general public. We’ll be able to run the workshop maintaining a high level of distancing and running a wider working hours, alternating between which limited staff are working throughout the day. We also have all of our team members in Kathmandu currently rather than spread out in rural villages, which will both help with our workshop production but help speed our return to full pace once industry restrictions loosen further- we won’t be waiting on interzone travel restrictions to loosen as well. Another issue we faced during the last lockdown is that Nepal is quite reliant on trade with India and China for medicine, fuel, etc but also for metals and grinding wheels and other essentials like glue. As the border has remained closed, these items are becoming increasingly scarce within Nepal. Luckily though, we have had shipments arrive during the gap between lockdowns and are well stocked enough to provide for ourselves and potentially other manufacturers if they remain in need. This may not remain the case though and could be a source of delays in future.

It’s very important to the livelihoods of our staff and our community that we continue taking orders and normally as possible, but we’ll need the support and understanding of our customers.
All in all we’re in a better position than last time to deal with this lockdown and delays will hopefully be more manageable. We’re suggesting a wait time of approximately 8-13 weeks from the date of having placed the order and for any customers affected we’ll be sending out emails with any changes to the situation here and what it’ll mean for orders.

This prediction is based around a few assumptions:

1-We’re assuming that this wave will be about the same to one and a half times as large as the last one.

2-That the government restrictions will follow a similar pattern of implementation and isn’t harsher and longer.

3-That this wave of corona eventually ends up managed and controlled just like the last one.

These all have the capability to actually end up considerably worse than expected, however they also have the ability to pleasantly surprise us. In either eventuality we’ll be updating this popup and contacting any affected customers.

Thanks and take care,
The Team at Kailash Blades