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On August 16, an additional 641 cases were diagnosed with which there are now 26,660 corona virus-infected people in Nepal. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 17,335 have been discharged after recovery. On August 16, 335 were discharged. At present, there are 9,221 people being treated in different hospitals nationwide. Out of the total infected, 65% have recovered. Till now, the death toll has reached 104. According to the Ministry, in the past 24 hours, 12,247 swabs were tested.

Provincial Reports

In Province 1,

According to the District Representative of Morang, Netra Prasad Adhikari, a 50-year-old woman of Biratnagar Metropolitan City-2 has died at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Sunsari, Dharan on August 15 due to corona virus infection. Similarly, a doctor who has been collecting swabs to test for coronavirus infection in Biratnagar Metropolitan City has been confirmed with the infection on August 16. After the doctor tested positive for the coronavirus, the staff of the department are in quarantine.

In Province 2,

According to the District Representative of Dhanusha, Dipendra Prasad Singh, Stating that the number of people infected with the corona virus is increasing day by day, the District Administration Office has decided to declare a lockdown from 12 noon on August 13 to 23 August 2020. A 43-year-old man living in Janakpurdham Sub-metropolitan-16 died on August 14 due to corona virus infection.

According to the District Representative of Sarlahi, Budhan Sah, a meeting of the District Security Committee, Corona Crisis Management Centre and District Disaster Management Committee has issued a prohibitory order to be enforced in the district from August 17 to August 23.

According to the District Representative of Siraha, Durga Pariyar, at a meeting of the CMC chaired by Chief District Officer Pradip Raj Kandel on August 16, it was decided that lockdown was the only way to control the crisis situation. After which, the local levels of Siraha have announced to lock down all the markets, shops, haat bazaars and other places except the essential ones till August 31.

According to the District Representative of Bara, Bhola Nath Paudel, Chief District Officer Rudra Prasad Pandit informed that a prohibitory order has been issued at all the local levels of the district from 5 am on August 17 until further notice as per the decision of the District COVID Coordinating Committee.

In Bagmati Province,

On August 16, there were 126 infected in Kathmandu, 38 in Lalitpur, 27 in Chitwan, eight in Bhaktapur, four in Makwanpur, one each in Nuwakot and Sindhuli which makes it a total 205 in the province. Out of the total infected, 654 have recovered after treatment and 2,195 are being treated in different hospitals and isolation centres. Till date, 17 have died in this province because of the infection. Meeting of the three rural municipality’s chairpersons’ forums on August 16 issued a joint statement stating that the Bagmati, Mahankal and Konjyosom rural municipality of South Lalitpur are at high risk due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus in the Kathmandu Valley, therefore, it has been decided to close public transport completely from August 17 to 31. It is mentioned in the press release that all the services other than the essential services operated by the rural municipality will be closed during that period.

Likewise, a notice issued by Chief Administrative Officer of Godavari Municipality, Lalitpur, Birendra Dev Bharti on August 14 has said that the order issued by the District Administration Office, Lalitpur, should be complied with and all the locals and administration are expected to obey it.

According to the District Representative of Chitwan, Dipendra Adhikari, The District Administration Office has issued a prohibitory order in five local levels except for Madi Municipality with effect from the night of August 16. A prohibitory order was issued in Bharatpur Metropolitan City on August 15. The prohibitory order has been fixed till August 21 at all the six local levels including Bharatpur Metropolitan City.

According to the District Representative of Sindhupalchowk, Nati Babu Dhital, a meeting of the Corona Crisis Management Committee held in the district on August 15 has decided to lock down the district. A meeting chaired by Chief District Officer Umesh Kumar Dhakal decided to hold a one-week lockdown, said Deputy Chief District Officer Baburam Khanal. Khanal said that only essential services will be provided by the government and non-government offices of the district and banks and financial institutions and cooperatives will be operated from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

According to the District Representative of Nuwakot, Nawadeep Shrestha, along with the increase in the number of corona infections in the district, the number of people who need to collect and test swabs is also increasing. As there is no lab for PCR testing in the district, swabs are collected and sent to Hetauda and Kathmandu. Uttam Khanal, information officer at the health office, said that it takes earliest three days and latest seven days for the report to be received. Meanwhile, Bidur Municipality has started the process to operate PCR machine in Trisuli District Hospital.

According to the District Representative of Kathmandu, Bimala Paudel, shops in the New Road area of Kathmandu will be closed for two days in view of the increasing number of Corona infections in the district. Chinikaji Maharjan, Ward Chairperson of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-22, told INSEC representative by telephone that the decision was taken to close the shops in New Road area on August 17 and 18 and will reopen the shops only after fulfilling the criteria set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In Gandaki Province

According to the District Representative of Nawal Parasi (Bardaghat-Susta East), the Gandaki provincial government has given a special grant to the five-bed ICU with two ventilators at Madhyabindu District Hospital. However, ICU service with ventilator could not be started immediately due to lack of skilled manpower, said Information Officer of the hospital Chhavilal Subedi. He said that even though the work of connecting ventilator and ICU bed has started, it is not possible to start the service for another month due to lack of manpower. Currently, ICU and ventilator services are not in operation in any health institution in the district.

According to the District Representative of Parbat, Santosh Thapa, as the number of corona infected is increasing in other districts, the Parbat Police has started an ‘SMS’ campaign for awareness from August 16. A public awareness campaign has been launched urging people to adopt the formula of using social precautions, masks and sanitizer ‘SMS’ to avoid corona. Chief of the District Police Office, Parbat, DSP Bishwaraj Adhikari said that a team of Armed Police Force and Nepal Police has been deployed in the market with more than 50 people.

According to the District Representative of Baglung, Sirjana Pant, the Inland Revenue Office has been sealed after a woman serving food in an inn in front of Dhaulagiri Hospital confirmed the corona infection. Six employees of the Inland Revenue Office ate there regularly.

According to the District Representative of Gorkha, Hariram Uprety, a meeting of the command post held in the district on August 16 has issued a restraining order from August 17 to August 24. The general public has been appealed not to walk except for urgent work. He said that all the services in the district government offices except the essential ones have also been shut down.

In Province 5,

According to the District Representative of Kapilbastu, Parbati Acharya, the District Administration Office, Kapilbbastu, has decided to issue a prohibitory order in the district from August 17 to 23. A meeting of the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Committee held at the District Administration Office on August 16 has decided to issue a prohibitory order till August 23. Earlier, a prohibition was imposed in the district till August 16. Chief District Officer Dirgha Narayan Poudel said that the prohibition has been extended till August 23 as the number of people infected with the coronavirus is increasing daily.

According to the District Representative of Pyuthan, Rabindra Pandey, although the government has recently asked to evacuate the isolation and quarantine made in the school, the infected people are still living in the quarantine and isolation made in the school in Pyuthan municipality. The Pyuthan Municipal Office informed that people returning from foreign countries are still being quarantined in the schools of the municipality and four infected people have been kept in one school.

According to the District Representative of Rupandehi, Rima BC, a meeting of the district level COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre held on August 16 has formed a ‘Quick Response Team’ under the coordination of Chief District Officer Mahadev Pantha and the Chief Administrative Officer at the local level. The meeting also decided to procure the required materials at the local level, informed Chief District Officer Mahadev Pantha in a phone call with the INSEC representative. Similarly, Butwal sub-metropolitan Mayor Shivaraj Subedi said that cash transactions from banks and financial institutions within the Butwal sub-metropolitan have been stopped from August 16 due to increased risk of corona infection in Butwal sub-municipality.

In Karnali Province,

According to the District Representative of Mugu, Jiwan Sejuwal, a district-wide ‘semi-lockdown’ has been announced for two weeks from August 17 to prevent and control the corona virus. The meeting of the Crisis Management Committee on August 16 has completely stopped the movement of people from one local level to another, including all the entry and exit points of the district, allow shops to open from 6 to 10 in the morning and from 4 to 6 in the evening to avoid shortage of daily necessities, hotels and salons will be completely closed until further notice, according to the district administration office.

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