Flights, long-distance bus services suspended until August 31

KATHMANDU, Aug 11: The government has decided to close aviation service and long-distance public transport until August 31 in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

A cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Baluwatar on Monday evening made the decision in line with the recommendation made earlier by the COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC).

The CCMC meeting on Sunday had decided to recommend to the government not to immediately resume aviation services and long-distance public transport as announced earlier to resume these services from August 17.

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The government had partially lifted the lockdown 120 days after it was first enforced on March 24 to contain the spread of COVID-19. The government had then announced its plans to resume long-distance public transportation services, domestic and international flights, training sessions and preliminary stages of international games, student admission, academic and other examinations from August 17.

The cabinet meeting has also decided to reduce the designated entry point for people entering Nepal from India to 10 from existing 20 in view of the spread of COVID-19 due to unchecked cross-border movement.

Among other things, the cabinet meeting decided to allow factories and business enterprises to resume their operation only after they fulfill health guidelines and develop separate quarantine facilities for their workers. The decision comes in the wake of the growing number of COVID-19 cases found among workers of such business enterprises.

With 338 new cases of coronavirus recorded in the past 24 hours across the country, Nepal's COVID-19 tally has risen to 23,310 on Monday.A total of 79 individuals have succumbed to this disease so far. 

Amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Kathmandu Valley, the government on Wednesday decided to enforce the odd-even rule for both public and private vehicles except those belonging to essential services starting Thursday. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to restrict the movement of people between 9 pm and 5 am in the three districts of the Kathmandu Valley in order to contain the possible spread of COVID-19. All passenger vehicles are also banned from entering the Kathmandu Valley from 7 pm to 7 am.