April 7: The government has extended the nationwide lockdown for the third time. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday decided to extend the lockdown until April 15.

The lockdown, which was first imposed on March 24 for a week, was expiring on Tuesday midnight.

The cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli decided to extend the lockdown upon the recommendation of the high-level committee to prevent the spread of Covid-19, informed government spokesperson Yuba Raj Khatiwada.

The latest decision was taken after new cases of coronavirus were reported in Sudur Paschim Province, including a locally-transmitted case which has worried the health workers.

Experts believe that Nepal is now in the second phase of transmission of the deadly disease, which has infected more than 1.3 million people worldwide and claimed more than 74,000 lives. The virus which is believed to have originated in China’s Wuhan has spread to 209 countries so far.

All services in Nepal except for essential and emergency ones remain suspended and people have been confined inside their homes due to the extended lockdown, which will enter the third week from Wednesday.

 Meanwhile, all domestic and international flights remain suspended across the country.
Nepal has reported a total of nine cases, out of which one person has already been cured while others are receiving treatment in isolation wards. All the cases were imported except one which was transmitted to a local woman of Kanchanpur, who  did not have any recent travel history to affected countries, from a relative who returned home from the UAE.