Restrictions clamped in Kathmandu valley as COVID-19 cases are at 74% of peak
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The government had earlier made vaccination cards mandatory in public places
In a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, the local administration in Nepal's Kathmandu valley has decided to impose an odd-even rule for vehicles starting from Friday midnight.
Chief Administrative Officers of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur held a meeting on Thursday and made the decision to enforce the rule for both public and private vehicles starting Friday midnight.
Acting Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, Suprabha Khanal Dhungel, shared that an order has been issued to operate public and private vehicles including two-wheelers with odd registration numbers on odd days and even registration numbers on even days in Kathmandu valley.
The order also stipulates that public transport should not have more passengers than the seating capacity, that all passengers should be required to wear masks.
Similarly, it is mentioned in the order that the head of the office will make proper management of the service flow in all the public and government bodies in the district.
The government had earlier made vaccination cards mandatory in public places. The number of people receiving vaccines has increased with the implementation of this decision.
Authorities earlier extended a ban on large public gatherings in Kathmandu valley, home to more than four million people, until February 12 from January 29 to try to control the spread of the virus.
On Thursday, 12,338 people tested positive for Covid-19, of which 6,981 were from the Kathmandu valley—5001 of Kathmandu, 1,130 of Lalitpur and 850 of Bhaktapur.
As per the Reuters COVID tracker, COVID-19 infections are increasing in Nepal, with 6,638 new infections reported on average each day. That’s 74% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on May 12.
In the last 13 days, the country has reported almost 58,000 COVID-19 cases.
According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 53 per cent of eligible Nepali people have received one dose COVID-19 vaccine and 41.4 per cent have received full doses of vaccines.