Hari Krishna Neupane spent 17 years working in Kuwait and Iraq, rising to the position of a restaurant manager, till the coronavirus infection turned his life topsy turvy and forced him to come back to his home in Nepal, according to The Kathmandu Post.

“I worked between 2006 and 2010 in Iraq where the Kuwaiti company had its branches,” said Neupane, now 42. “Every six months, I would return to Kuwait. After years of hard work, I could take care of my family back home.”

But Covid-19 came as a shock. Like tens of thousands of Nepali migrant workers in the Persian Gulf, Neupane lost his job and also contracted Covid-19 in Kuwait last May.

“As I was working in the food and beverage sector, I was laid off,” said Neupane, who later got a job in another restaurant. “I also got infected with Covid-19 and that left me physically weak.”

Before things could return to normal, the gulf nation was hit by the second Covid wave. As cases surged, Neupane decided to return home.

“I could not risk my life again,” said Neupane, whose health has declimed after his first Covid infection.

“Since last year, my family wanted me to return home after I got infected. Although my visa is still valid, I returned home and won’t go back again,” he said.

As of Thursday, Kuwait has recorded 261,307 cases with a total of 1,482 Covid deaths. The daily cases are fast increasing with over 1000 new Covid-19 cases being recorded every day.

The death of three Nepali workers in a span of two days in Kuwait last week, has left Nepali workers further scared of their own safety in the country.

Bishnu Paudel, another Nepali, who runs his recruitment business in Salmaiya, some 15-km far from Kuwait City, said the deaths have left him unnerved.

Last Thursday, two Nepalis had died and another succumbed to Covid the next day, said Neupane, also a journalist, and tracks developments in Kuwait.

“Last year, at least six Nepalis had died of Covid. We’ve heard reports of three more deaths, but that’s not verified,” said Neupane, who is immediate past president of the Kuwait Chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists.

What is more scary for the Nepali workers in Kuwait is the overwhelmed health facilities there.

“Nepalis who work on the frontlines like supermarkets and airports among other places were vaccinated,” said Neupane.

“While the second wave is making people sick at a faster rate and considered more dangerous, the local hospitals do not admit patients unless they are critical. Many of my infected friends have been relying on bottled oxygen at their apartments.”