Nepal government restricts night entry of vehicles into Kathmandu

The Nepal government has restricted the entry of passenger vehicles into Kathmandu during the night following a surge in the number of coronavirus cases in the national capital, the Home Ministry said.

No passenger vehicles will be allowed to enter Kathmandu from 7 pm to 7 am starting Thursday night, home ministry officials said.

The decision comes after a large number of people entering Kathmandu in recent days were tested positive for the Covid-19.

The capital recorded 45 new cases on Thursday. On the same day, 24 people entering Kathmandu from other districts were tested positive for the virus.

However, the rule will not affect the movement of essential and cargo vehicles, the officials said.

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The government has also installed necessary testing infrastructures and human resources in three major entry points to Kathmandu.

Similarly, the district administration offices outside Kathmandu are also directed not to issue any permits to allow inter-district vehicular movement.

Officials have cautioned that failure to control the movement of people from the porous Indo-Nepal border could lead to a surge in the number of cases in the country.

The government is considering to further strengthen the border security to check cross-border movement of people in order to contain the possible spread of the Covid-19 cases.

The authorities have also restricted the movement of people and vehicles from one district to another without permission from local authorities.

According to the Johns Hopkins University data, the country has recorded 19,547 Covid-19 cases with 52 deaths.