Prohibitory orders in Kathmandu  Valley extended till June 14

KATHMANDU, June 2: Ongoing prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley, where Nepal’s federal capital lies, have been extended by another 12 days amid the fears of the novel coronavirus disease. 

The restriction orders, which were first put in place on April 29, will now continue until June 14. 

A meeting of the chief district officers (CDOs) of the three districts --- Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur -- in the Valley, on Wednesday, decided to extend the orders, according to Prem Prasad Bhattarai, CDO of Bhaktapur district. 

The orders, which were enforced for a week initially, were extended for twice -- one after a week on May 5 and then on May 27. The recent extension was due to expire on June 3, which introduced a little bit tightened rules as grocery stores and departmental stores were not allowed to open. 

However, with the recent decision, the grocery stores and departmental stores will remain open until 9 AM in the morning. 

The meeting, attended by Kathmandu’s CDO Kali Prasad Parajuli, Lalitpur’s CDO Dhundi Prasad Niraula and Bhattarai of Bhaktapur district, also drew a conclusion that the the prohibitory orders can not be lifted at least for as the coronavirus disease is still ravaging the county’s capital city. 

As of Tuesday afternoon’s data, there are still 25,253 active cases of the disease in the Valley including 14,584 in Kathmandu, 4,300 in Lalitpur and 6,369 in Bhaktapur districts.