Rescue of stranded Nepalis goes on along border in Kailali

Kathmandu - Rescue efforts are on amidst the lockdown targeting Nepalis aspiring to enter the country via the Trinagar check-point in Kailali along the Nepal-India border in the aftermath of COVID-19 crisis. As said by District Police Administration Office, Kailali's information officer Shiba Raj Joshi, the arrivals of Nepalis from several Indian towns continue and to date, a total of 86,500 are recorded to have entered the country from this check point.

''Though the number of returnees between May 24 and June 8 had reached its peak, now the figure is declining,'' he said. At present, 200 people on average are making their ways back to homes via the point. In the beginning days of the coronavirus lockdown, the number was high as 6,000, the data shows With the Indian Government's decision to ease the lockdown there lately might have provided working opportunities for Nepali migrant workers and this is the reason why the number of returnees is decreasing these days, according to Joshi.

Several quarantine facilities have been built at ward levels to put the migrant-returnees. As said by the Dhangadhi sub-metropolis, swab collections in such facilities go on for coronavirus test through PCR procedures. Mayor Nripa Bahadur Od, the local government has managed its own isolation chamber to keep those tested with positive for the virus.

" We demand the extension of testing coverage since the beginning,'' he said, adding presently those in quarantine are being tested and the testing on the basis of tracing method would begin soon. Sub-metropolis COVID-19 sub-committee coordinator Narayan Prasad Baral said despite will to expand the testing coverage, it could not be happened due to the shortage of testing kits.