Nepal extends lockdown in Kathmandu Valley till June 3

Kathmandu, May 25

Authorities in the Nepalese capital on Tuesday further extended the lockdown in Kathmandu and surrounding districts for one more week till June 3 to contain the spread of Covid-19 infection.

Nepal on Tuesday reported 8,636 new cases of coronavirus, taking the total tally to 5,28,848, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.

A meeting of the chief district officers of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur took a decision to extend the prohibitory orders by one week as the orders enforced four weeks ago have yet to substantially reduce the rate of Covid-19 infections across Nepal, according to a statement issued by the authorities on Tuesday.

With this decision, the prohibitory orders will remain in place until June 3 midnight, the officials said.

Grocery shops and departmental stores are also barred from opening during the lockdown period.

“Only those selling medicine, milk, green vegetables and food items will be allowed to open from 7 am till 9 am,” according to officials.

Meanwhile, the ministry said that while conducting PCR tests on 22,936 people 8,636 were diagnosed with the viral disease.

Similarly, as many as 6,404 Covid-19 patients recovered in a single day. The health ministry also recorded 169 death cases related to Covid-19 on the same day. So far, 6,700 people have died of Covid-19 in Nepal. PTI