Govt decides to put off all pre-scheduled examinations until further notice amid fresh surge in COVID-19 cases

Published On: April 26, 2021 05:24 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, April 26. The government has decided to put off all of the university-level examinations that were being held by maintaining physical distance until further notice in order to contain the spread of COVID-19.

A meeting of the Central COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) held on Saturday made a decision to this effect keeping in view of the sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 infection seen in different parts of the country. All the pre-scheduled examinations of universities starting Monday will be put off until further notice, according to a press statement issued by the CCMC.

The decision comes as a part of several measures that the government introduced on Saturday after the cases of new variants of COVID-19 have seen a sharp rise. Amid concerns raised from various quarters, the CCMC has decided to restrict cross-border movement of foreign nationals from all land entry points with India and those arriving in Nepal via air route will have to stay in quarantine for 14 days.

The CCMC has also recommended enforcing a lockdown if any urban district has already reported 500 cases of COVID-19 and hilly districts more than 200 cases. Local authorities are expected to take decision to enforce lockdown in various districts including Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur as these districts have already witnessed more than 500 cases of COVID-19.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), Kathmandu has already recorded 6,521 cases of COVID-19, while the number of new COVID-19 cases in Lalitpur stands at 1,351. Bhaktapur district has registered a total 613 new cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday.

Banke, Rupanedhi, Parsa, Morang, Dang and Kaski districts have also recorded more than 500 cases each. Senior officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) said local administrations in the respective districts are mulling to enforce the lockdown as per the decision of the CCMC to grant them the authority to enforce lockdown to contain further spread of the COVID-19 as deemed necessary.