Country Goes Under Lockdown for a Week Starting Today
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WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 35 | 12 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 32.6 C 1.7 C Tuesday, March 24, 2020 | 11-12-2076 Jankapur Jomsom Country goes under lockdown for a week starting today All public movement outside of the home, except to seek medical attention or purchase essential foodstuff, has been prohibited. TIKA R PRADHAN via the nearest police station or the KATHMANDU, MARCH 23 Health Ministry. All flights have also been suspend- The entire country will go on a lock- ed, except those of security forces. down for a week starting 6am on Private industries, except for those Tuesday, amid concerns over the involved in medicine and medical spread of Covid-19. equipment, foodstuff, drinking water, A meeting of the high-level commit- milk and fuel, will have to send their tee for the prevention and control of employees on leave. Covid-19, led by Deputy Prime Anyone defying the government Minister Ishwar Pokhrel, took the order will be booked under the decision on Monday evening, hours Infectious Disease Control Act. after a second coronavirus case was According to the Act, violators are confirmed. liable for a jail term of a month or a Prabhat Katuwal, a personal aide to Rs100 fine, or with both. Pokhrel, confirmed that there will be All government services, except a nationwide lockdown from Tuesday those related to daily essentials, will morning. “Mobility of people, except be closed and government officials for emergencies, will be halted,” kept on alert for emergencies. Katuwal told the Post. The eight-point order, however, does The Ministry of Health said on not explicitly list the media or press as Monday afternoon that a 19-year-old an essential service that will be Nepali student who had returned from allowed to stay open. As per the Nepal France via Qatar tested positive for Gazette, the media and press are cate- Covid-19. “We have decided to go for a gorised as essential services. Point No. lockdown from 6am Tuesday for a 4 includes information and communi- week,” said Bhanubhakta Dhakal, cation services, but does not explicitly POST PHOTO: KESHAV THAPA minister for health and population, say ‘the media or press’. A child studies in a room wearing a face mask at his home in Chhauni, Kathmandu, on Monday. The government had decided to close all schools, colleges and universities until April 12. who is a member of the committee. On Friday, when Prime Minister KP In an eight-point order released by Sharma Oli announced a partial lock- the committee, all public movement down, there were already indications outside of the home, except to seek that the administration was preparing medical attention or purchase essen- for a complete lockdown. CULTURE & ARTS | 10 tial foodstuff, has been prohibited. All At least two ministers in the Oli 19-year-old woman who returned from public and private vehicles, except for administration had told the Post that a those with prior permission, those decision for a complete lockdown was The mantras of belonging to security forces and those underway. Speaking at a parliamenta- for health workers, are also forbidden ry committee on Sunday, Minister for making working from France via Qatar tests positive for Covid-19 from the streets. “People can come out Industry, Commerce and Supplies home possible of their homes to buy essentials as Lekhraj Bhatta had said that the gov- ARJUN POUDEL her roommate in France informed health workers have been deployed shops selling essential goods will ernment was “studying the Chinese KATHMANDU, MARCH 23 her that she had tested positive for to trace all other possible contacts remain open,” Foreign Minister model” to control the spread of the Covid-19. she could’ve had.” Pradeep Gyawali told the Post. “A spe- virus. After the rapid spread of the A 19-year-old Nepali student who Nasal and throat swabs were Health workers, however, were cific time has not been allocated as coronavirus in late December in returned to Nepal from France via drawn and sent to the National not deployed until late Monday that will cause crowds at the stores.” Wuhan, China had enforced a com- Qatar on March 17 has tested posi- Public Health Laboratory, which afternoon to trace all of the wom- Despite Gyawali’s assurances, most plete lockdown, restricting the move- tive for Covid-19. confirmed the presence of Covid-19 an’s contacts. shops are likely to remain closed as ments of more than 30 million people. According to Minister for Health on Sunday, Dhakal said at a press Dr Basudev Pandey, director of shopkeepers too need to transport That measure, however, was ultimate- and Population Bhanu Bhakta meet organised on Monday. the Epidemiology and Disease their goods and get to their stores. ly hailed as an effective measure in Dhakal, the student has been admit- According to the minister, the Control Division, the agency For those who suspect they might preventing the spread of Covid-19. ted to the Sukraraj Tropical and patient was admitted to the Teku responsible for mobilising person- have Covid-19, the government has “The government was saying that Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku. hospital’s isolation ward on Sunday nel to track down contacts, conced- formed a Patient Receiving Team the country would go for a lockdown if The woman, who had been in night after Covid-19 was confirmed. ed that although he knew about the under the leadership of the home min- the situation deteriorated,” said self-quarantine since returning “People who came in close con- live Covid-19 case, it had taken him ister to transport such suspected Health Minister Dhakal. “That time from France, was brought to the tact with the patient are also being some time to deploy personnel. patients to the hospital, said Gyawali. has come.” Sukraraj Hospital on Friday after monitored,” Dhakal said. “And >> Continued on page 4 A rescue team visit can be arranged (Binod Ghimire contributed reporting) For Nepali migrant workers abroad, no hearth and no home As Nepal has closed itself off to all incomers, including its own citizens. Even Nepali migrants who have visas expiring are unable to come back home. POST FILE PHOTO Gulf countries, Malaysia and South Korea, which have been affected by Covid-19, host a large number of Nepali migrants. CHANDAN KUMAR MANDAL KATHMANDU, MARCH 23 As Covid-19 began to spread and occupancy fell in the hotel that he was working at, Laxman Lamichhane decided that he would come home. Lamichhane was planning to fly back from the United Arab Emirates on April 10, the day his vacation days began, but when the Nepal government’s increasing restrictions on travel, he was forced to change his plans. Last Wednesday, the Nepal government imposed travel restrictions as a measure to prevent the coronavirus from entering the country. As per the government ban, all pas- sengers, including Nepalis, from the European Union, the United Kingdom, West Asia, Gulf countries and countries like Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, were restricted from March 20 until April 15. The travel restric- tion was also applicable for all passengers transiting in these locations. “Most tourist destinations in the UAE are closed and there is not much work in the hospitality industry,” said Lamichhane. “My vacation was starting on April 10 but as there was a travel restriction in place, I had to change my plans.” >> Continued on page 4 C M Y K TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020 | 02 MEDLEY Inside the Post Quote of the day 540 returning from India leave ‘rescue facility’, Page 1 National The government has barred gatherings of more than 25 people to prevent the spread of Covid-19. However, state agencies themselves are ignoring the order. “We were at high risk of contracting coronavirus at the facility. More than Opinion 30 people were kept in one room. We All crises present great opportunities to leaders. We Nepalis are already big fans of Oli’s personal resilience--fighting his health condition and emerging victori- thought it better to leave than stay ous. Yet, we need to see this extend to the conduct of national affairs. in such a crowded place.” Culture & Arts Netra Bahadur BK, a migrant worker returning from India, on the situation Working from home demands you supervise your own actions and work amidst a inside the facility built in Banke to keep the Nepalis returning from India myriad of distractions. It becomes easier to give in to temptations and escape amid Covid-19 travel restrictions. work responsibilities, especially when we can not mentally associate work with our homes Money Most read online With people more concerned about having adequate stocks of essential food items and cooking gas, buying meat is low in their priority list. Livestock traders said Test, test, test, says WHO but Nepal has neither the means meat sales were down 35 percent across the country, with the price of chicken nor the matter meat seeing a steep decline of Rs70-80 per kg. Sandeep Rai arrived at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Sports Teku on Sunday with his colleagues Anuj Adhikari and Habin Bhandari. All three work for a subcontract partner of Huawei Technologies Co, where their None of the teams based in Italy’s northern Lombardy region around Milan most supervisor had asked them to take a Covid-19 test as one of their colleagues had heavily hit by the virus have expressed an interest in playing any time soon. But been down with fever, sore throat and body aches for the past several days.