MANANG, Jan 25: The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly. Due to the rise of COVID-19 infection, vaccination cards have been made mandatory for entry into the Himalayan district of Manang.
Chief District Officer Rabindra Prasad Acharya stated that vaccination cards have been made mandatory for tourists and the general public to enter Manang. According to him, even drivers without vaccination cards have been banned from driving into the district. He said that masks and vaccination cards have been made mandatory for people coming from outside the district to avoid infection in Manang, which currently has zero active infection.
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Acharya said that high vigilance has been upped in the district where there are no active COVID-19 cases and the infection can be transmitted through people entering from outside the district. “Tourists enter the Annapurna trekking trail. We have made vaccination cards and masks mandatory for them. As there are zero COVID-19 cases in the district, we are trying to maintain it,” he said.
According to CDO Acharya, police and health workers are monitoring the Manang entrance at Taldanda on a daily basis. He said that a meeting of District COVID-19 Crisis Management Committee (DCCMC), District Disaster Management Committee, all parties as well as the head of the office was held recently and they have expressed their commitment to help in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in Manang.
"The COVID-19 infection rate has reached the peak now. The new measure is expected to help prevent COVID-19 infection in Manang. Everyone’s support is necessary in this,” said CDO Acharya. As the corona infection is increasing on a daily basis, the Manang Ngisyang Municipality has requested its citizens entering from the outer districts including Kathmandu, Pokhara and Besisahar as well as tourists to undergo mandatory antigen testing at Pisang Health Post and Humde Health Post.
